


The Trials Of Malivore

by Whirlwind



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, Handon, Triad Industries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2020-09-28 15:31:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20428241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whirlwind/pseuds/Whirlwind
Summary: When Hope is offered a chance at escaping Malivore, she must endure a number of alternate worlds in order to finally make her way back home to the people she cares about. Can she pass the tests or will she be stuck there forever?





	1. A World Without Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this was long. Lol. This turned out to be pretty dialogue heavy and a bit messy in places, but I was trying to set a lot of things up. So apologies for that.

"I have on offer for you."

A rumbling voice echoed inside of the dark void, causing Hope and Clarke to quickly glance around in surprise at the sudden new addition to their otherwise solitary confinement.

“It finally speaks.” Hope remarked, arms crossed over her chest as she stared up into the infinite blackness above her.

“Believe me, you’ll wish he hadn’t.” Ryan muttered, as he rolled his eyes as he sat on the ground.

Hope briefly glanced over at Clarke before returning her gaze upward. "I’m listening."

"Successfully pass through each of my trials and I will grant you your freedom from this place.”

"And why on Earth would you do that?" Hope asked suspiciously. As much as she wanted to get out of this god forsaken place, this all sounded far to easy and good to be true. Her attempts to truly stop Malivore had obviously not been successful. Though she had been able to temporarily stop him from rising, he was slowly regaining his powers. Why wouldn't he want to keep her trapped here?

"I was never meant to absorb your kinds, and in doing so it has affected my stability, enacting precautions put in place by those who created me. If you can prove that you are strong enough to traverse through the trial worlds and find the doors marked with the symbol of the Triad, I can release you."

Hope mauled over his words. She was still convinced Malivore was hiding something, but she knew she had a much better chance of stopping him in the outside world than stuck in here. Plus, if there really was a chance at returning home back to her family and friends again, she was going to take it.

"Deal."

"Hang on. You’re crazy if you think you're leaving me stuck down here.” Ryan interjected, pushing himself up into a standing position to join the conversation.

"Very well." The voice conceded. "If you are to both enter together, then you must leave together as well."

Hope made a disturbed face, as did Ryan. She did not like the sound of that.

"Hey. Hold on. I didn't agr-"

“It is done. Let the first trial begin."

As much as Hope loved Landon, she was really starting to hate his family.

* * *

The next thing Hope knew, she was lying outside alone on the ground, staring up at a cloudy dismal looking sky.

"Okay. Getting real tired of waking up in a field, in the middle of nowhere." Hope grumbled in annoyance as she sat up on the dry ground and pushed herself up to stand. She glanced around, taking in her very stark surroundings. This world was gray, cold, and devoid of life and color. It reminded her of a wasteland and it brought a deep unease about her.

The sound of propellers from nearby helicopters flying overhead became noisily apparent in her ears, which caused her to look up. The resonance that belonged to the aircraft gradually grew even louder as it finally came into view. As it hovered above her, an extremely bright light suddenly shot out from it, right onto her form. Hope brought her arm up to shield her eyes from both the brightness and the wind that was currently pummeling her.

The light shifted from white to a violent shade of red, and the aircraft emitted a sharp buzzer sound in response. Two small hatch doors opened up beneath the underside of copter, and a weapon launcher appeared from it, aimed directly at Hope. She had no time to react, and immediately found herself on the receiving end of a grenade. It missed, but the impact sent her flying backwards, eventually slowly skidding to a halt on the rough ground.

Her head began to spin and slowly everything began to fade to black.

* * *

A low hum greeted Hope's ears when she eventually came to some time later. From what she could feel, she was no longer outside in the field anymore. Instead she felt soft fabric underneath her. Not sure where she was, she kept her eyes shut and did her best to see what she could learn of her surrounding based entirely off sound. Hope was able to make out someone scribbling something down on paper, confirming she was not alone in this place.

After a couple more minutes of only listening, she slowly began to open up her eyes. Hope found herself in a rather small dimly lit room with no windows, along with smatterings of medical equipment that looked like it had seen better days, sprinkled throughout. She caught sight of a young woman with long, various colored braids, who looked vaguely familiar for some reason, sitting on a rolling chair at a small desk.

The girl looked up from her writing to notice that Hope was awake and began to approach her. In a panic, Hope shot up to prepare if she needed to defend herself.

“I wouldn’t recommend that if I were you."

The girl said to her, and she was right. Hope groaned as her whole body felt sore and she had to steady herself with her arms to prevent herself from falling backwards.

"You got hit pretty hard out there."

The other woman informed her sympathetically. She didn't seem like an enemy, but Hope had some questions she needed answered before deciding on whether she could even begin to trust this girl or not.

"Who are you, and where the hell am I?”

"I'm Nia, the head medical supervisor and lieutenant here. You're in the resistance's underground base, stationed a couple miles south of Mystic Falls. Well, what’s left of it anyway."

That explained some things, but at the same time, provided far more questions than answers.

"Resistance against who?"

The other young woman placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head as she gave Hope a quizzical look.

"How hard did you hit your head out there? The resistance against Triad of course. You know, the guys who've been ruthlessly hunting down us supernaturals for years?"

That was Triad out there that had attacked her? They were the reason this world was like this? She always knew Triad was a threat, but she never thought they'd ever be capable of this much havoc and destruction. Hope knew this place was just Malivore's creation, but she couldn't help but wonder if back in the real world, this might still be a future possibility. She shuddered at the thought.

Nia began to run some basic cognitive and visual tests for a concussion as Hope asked more questions.

"So how did I wind up here?"

"The commander found you while he was out on one of his scouting missions and he brought you back. He wanted to be here when you woke up, but he got called away to deal with an urgent issue. He should be back soon though.”

Hope sat there a moment, taking in all of this information. Maybe Malivore's trials weren't going to be as easy as she thought. In all this chaos she was supposed to find some magical door somewhere? Who knows where it could be. Not to mention, she didn't even know what happened to Clarke or where he was either.

Hope exhaled tiredly. She was finding it all a tad overwhelming, not to mention, rather hard to concentrate with her body still throbbing in pain. Hope attempted to summon up her magic to try and ease her aches when suddenly she found nothing was happening. She tried again but got the same result. Taking a deep breath, she did her best to conceal the mild panic that was bubbling up insider her.

"Why aren't my powers working?"

Nia momentarily frowns, then moves to look over Hope's vitals again.

"You got hit with one of Triad’s power negating weapons, so that’s probably why. But it should be wearing off soon though."

Hope responded with a small nod. Hopefully Nia was right. Given how dangerous this world was, she was definitely goings to need her powers if she wanted any chance of finding the exit out of here.

A sudden knock at the door frame, followed by a very familiar voice immediately caught Hope's attention.

"Seems are patient is finally awake. How's she doing?"

Nia glances down once more at the results in her hands and smiles confidentially at the commander.

"She's getting there, but from what I see she'll make a full and swift recovery."

Hope's not really paying attention to her prognosis from Nia. Instead she stares wide eyed at the young man standing in the doorway, unable to believe what she's seeing.

"Landon."

His name slips from her lips without thinking. He looks different in this universe in a number of ways. He's sporting a bit of scruff and his hair is a tad shorter. His face is more tired than she's used to seeing, this world has obviously taken its toll on him. But he still has that boyish glint in those green-gray eyes that she remembers oh so fondly.

The young man seemed rather surprised and little confused by the fact she knew his name, but quickly realized a reason for it.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm guessing since you know who I am, that Dr. Saltzman sent you? Makes sense. Its been pretty chaotic over there ever since what happened to one of his daughters." Landon heaved a heavy sighed and shook his head. "The poor guy's been through a lot this year.”

Though Hope was concerned about what had happened to the twins, she thought it better not to ask. Landon had inadvertently provided her with the base for a cover story, which she was going to need if she hoped to stick around her. She could only blame so much on her injury and they certainly weren't going to believe the real truth. So she simply played along and nodded in response to his statement.

Plus if she was being honest, fake world or not, she as a little afraid of the answer of what had befallen one of the twins here.

Landon stepped out the doorway and into the room to better continue their conversation. But as he did so, he couldn’t help but notice Nia trying her best to stifle a yawn by covering her mouth. Seemed the busy past couple of days were starting to catch up to his lieutenant.

"Nia, go take a break for awhile and get some rest. You've earned it. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

Nia opened her mouth to dismiss his concerns but to her embarrassment, another yawn escaped instead. Conceding defeat, she smiled and gave an appreciative nod. That bed of hers was calling her name, and who was she to deny it? She hastily collected her things and proceeded to head out.

Landon took a seat in the empty chair near her so that they could be at eye-level and he rested his elbows on his legs.

"How are you feeling?”

"I've been better." She replied, rubbing her thumb across a small cut on her forehead.

Landon shook his head and softly chuckled. ”I don't doubt it, but I'm glad to see you're okay. So what’s your name?”

”Hope.”

Maybe it was all in her head, but she swore for just a moment that his face softened and she saw some tiny flicker of something in his eyes at her name. But she dismissed it as just her imagination.

"Well, welcome to the resistance, Hope.”

”So you’re the commander here?" She asked, glancing around the room once more.

"Yeah. I know I don't really look like much. But having a commander who can’t die has its advantages. Though it also means a lot of ash cleanup.”

Hope softly chuckled and shook her head. Self deprecating as always, she remarked mentally.

“So what are you exactly? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I’m... a lot of things.” Hope replied vaguely. She wasn't sure how well admitting she was Tribrid was going to go over here. She was always the only one of her kind. Would anyone even believe her in this world?

“Come on. Humor me.”

Hope pauses a moment, his familiar words echoing an old conversation of theirs from when he first came to the Salvatore School. It’s just a coincidence she reminds herself.

"Besides, I’m a Phoenix, not sure you can get much stranger than that.” He shrugged. “Unless you’re a unicorn or something.” He joked, causing her to let out a laugh. The longer she was around him, the more Hope couldn’t help but miss her Landon. Maybe that was why she felt she could be honest with him.

“I’m... a Tribrid.” She admitted.

He blinked in surprise at her answer. He'd heard of hybrids before, which were fairly rare as it was, but never a Tribrid. He'd only been thrust into the world of supernatural a couple of years ago, and though he'd learned a quiet a lot since then, he knew there was way more out there he didn't know. Sensing she was telling the truth, he took her for her word.

“Well, you’ll fit in just fine here. This base tends to have some of the more... "unique" supernaturals anyway. We’d be lucky to have you.”

A conflicted look showed itself on Hope’s face at his offer. She obviously couldn’t stay, but she also might need their help to find a way out of this world. So she couldn’t help feeling a tad guilty for the lies she was going to have to tell in order to do that. She remembered the last time she had lied to Landon, and it didn't make it any easier having to do that to this version of him.

Landon mistook her expression as hesitation and quickly tried to smooth things over.

“I mean- assuming you want to stay that is." Landon added, feeling strangely flustered all of a sudden. Plenty of people only came here as a means of help for getting out of the country and down to Mexico, where it was safer for supernaturals. So why exactly did he care so much if she planned to stay or not? 

“It’s not that. I just-“

Landon immediately shook his head. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. You don’t owe me an explanation.”

Hope stared at him thoughtfully and let out a small sigh as she nodded her thanks.

It was then that loud sirens and red flashing lights began to sound the alarm of an intruder inside of the base.

“Damn it. They found us." 

Hope could only assume the "they" he was referring must be Triad. Had Landon finding and bringing her back here revealed the base's location? Was she partially to blame for this happening?

“I've gotta go. You should stay here, it’ll be safer. This room has some of the best security precautions in the compound.”

Hope reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him. "I’m going with you."

"You're not exactly in a condition to fight.”

"Doesn’t matter. I'm going."

Landon opened his mouth to argue, but Hope cut him off before he was able to.

“You’ll learn quickly that I’m not really someone who does what she’s told. So we can go together or I can just run off to help the others ten seconds after you leave. Either way, I'm not sitting around doing nothing. It's your decision."

Landon struggled to figure out what to do, but eventually, he helplessly conceded to the strong willed young woman before him. This was a battle he wasn't going to win and for whatever reason, he knew better than to even try.

He waved his hand for her to follow him and the two proceeded down the long tunnel. As they came to a four way intersection, they found two large sets of Triad soldiers charging towards them.

Hope immediately took action and tried to let loose her magic on the group, but much like before, nothing happened. Only a minuscule fizzle of power tingled at her finger tips. The power dampening effect from earlier still hadn't worn off completely. But just because her powers weren't working, didn't mean she was helpless. All her time training with Alaric was about to become incredibly useful. Landon found himself impressed with her skills to the point of being mildly stunned, causing him to almost get hit in the face by one of the men.

They did well in fighting them off, but the sound of boots on concrete alerted them to even more reinforcements coming. It was evident that they we're quickly becoming outnumbered in the tight space, making it much harder to fight. They needed to change strategies. To Hope’s surprise, Landon shot a gust of wind from his hand that began to grow in size and power, producing a self contained mini tornado inside the space. He grabbed Hope's hand and pulled her out of the way of getting sucked in by the force and made a beeline towards an empty tunnel.

"That should buy us some time. Come on.”

They swiftly headed down a set of corridors and as they turned another corner, they came face to face with a single armed Triad Agent. Or so it seemed.

"Clarke?”

"Hope?”

As the two recognized one another, Ryan exhaled as he put down the weapon.

“You guys know each other?

Clarke momentarily looked surprised and gave this version of Landon a quick once over before turning his gaze back to the Tribrid.

"Jeez Hope, is there any universe out there where you're not shacking up with my brother?"

Hope and Landon turned to each other with open mouths and bewildered expressions on their faces. The fact that they had still been holding hands only made things even more awkward and they quickly unclasped them. When Hope finally regained her composure, she shot Clarke an icy death glare for his comment.

"Wait, did you just say brother?" Landon asked, looking even more confused now than before. But Ryan outright ignored his question, much to his younger brother's frustration.

“Look, we don’t have time for this. I found the door. We need to get out of here. Let's go.”

Clarke was already half way down the corridor by the time he heard Hope’s reply.

“No.”

Clarke spun around impatiently, eyes narrowed in annoyance and bewilderment at the young woman's response. "What do you mean no?”

Hope crossed her arms over her chest and stood her ground. “We can’t just abandon them. It's my fault that Triad is here in the first place! I won’t leave them to fight this alone.”

Clarke heaved an exasperated sigh and dramatically gestured around them. “Newsflash Mikaelson, none of this is real! Nothing that happens here actually matters and neither do they."

In a sense, he wasn't wrong. This world wasn't real. But still, these people here, sporting the faces of people she cared about. How could she just leave them when they needed help?

"They matter to me."

Hope called over her shoulder. "Come on Landon, let's go find the others."

Landon couldn't help the amused smile on his face as he trailed after her. This girl was definitely something else.

Clarke murmured a profanity laden string of words under his breath and, not having much choice, begrudgingly followed after the other two.

They soon found themselves in a new corridor filled with stone statues of what used to be Triad agents. It was clear that this was Nia's handiwork. Triad should have known better than to mess with a sleeping Gorgon.

The trio was quickly able to catch up to her, along with a few other fellow supernaturals allies. With the return of Hope's magic and some helpful details from Clarke on Triad, the group formulated a plan and were able to incapacitate the threat at hand. For now anyway.

When things finally started to slow down and get back in order, Hope knew it was time for her to make her leave.

"Do you really have to go?" Landon asked, traces of disappoint in his voice. "We could really use someone like you around here."

Hope shook her head, "I'm sorry. I can't."

"I understand. Go. We'll be fine. You do what you need to do."

Hope found herself lingering there, her feet not quite wanting to move. She hesitated a moment about what to do, then inhaled a steadying breath as she reminded herself this isn’t her Landon. She knows that it can’t be, no matter how much he feels like the real thing in so many ways. Her Landon is back home at the Salvatore School, safe and sound. Hopefully. This version is just some sort of figment of her memories Malivore has drawn upon to create this world. Nothing more.

Hope pushed up on her tiptoes and pressed a gentle kiss into the side of Landon's cheek.

"Thank you.” She murmured quietly before turning away to head off with Clarke to door leading them out of this world.

She couldn’t bring herself to look back.

* * *

Landon awoke with a start as he sat up on the couch, text book laying open on his lap, feeling wildly disorientated. It took him a moment to remember where he was and what he’d previously been doing. He was in the lounge of the Salvatore School, studying with MG for an upcoming test.

His friend sat across from him on the sofa, wearing a rather concerned look on his face.

"You okay, Lan? I know Magical History can be kinda boring sometimes, but it’s not that bad."

Landon shook his head, trying to clear the lingering thoughts that still heavily clouded his mind. "Yeah, sorry about that. I must have accidentally nodded off or something."

"You sure everything is okay? You look kinda funny."

"I’m fine. I just had a really weird dream.”

MG closed the book in front of him and leaned forward some, slightly worried.

“Like, a dream demon messing with your head kind of dream? Or just your standard, caught in your underwear in front of a room of full of your peers type thing?"

Technically for Landon, those two things had been one in the same. But he understood what his friend meant.

“Nothing quite like that. I had a dream where Triad had taken over and was hunting down supernaturals-"

His friend squirmed slightly at the mention of Triad and Landon grimaced as he realized that the topic was still a bit of a sore spot for the boy, considering his mother had been in charge of the organization not that long ago.

"Sorry." Landon apologized. "Want me to stop?"

MG shook his head and gestured for him to continue on with his story.

"Anyway, I was like a commander or something, for some resistance and there was this amazing girl named, uh-“ His mind was suddenly drawing a complete blank as he tried to remember her name. “I uh- I forget actually, but we teamed up to help fight them off. I also apparently had powers that didn't just involve coming back to life. It all sorta felt... weirdly real."

M.G. raised a suspicious eyebrow, feeling there was more he wasn’t telling him. “Okay. But it was just a dream. So what’s the problem?”

Landon's hand fidgeted with the pages of the text book that still sat on his lap.

"I... had feelings for this girl and... I dunno. I just, I feel guilty I guess.”

"Because of Josie?"

"Yeah..."

With most of the students away over the summer, Josie and Landon had been one of the few to stick around and in doing so, became good friends as he helped her do research to learn more about the merge. A couple of weeks ago, they decided to give dating shot.

“Maybe it’s your subconscious trying to tell you something." MG offered plainly.

Landon gave him a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

MG scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck. "Don’t get me wrong, I love both of you guys but...” He hesitates a moment, debating whether or not he should continue to broach this topic or not.

"But?"

He sighed. “You’re great as friends but, never really saw you guys being a couple. I kinda always thought that she and Penelope would end up back together."

"Ouch." Landon remarked a tad hurt by the comment.

"Sorry! But if Josie makes you happy, I'm happy for you. Please don't hate me.” His friend pleaded apologetically.

"It's fine, man. You were just being honest."

MG exhaled in relief and proceeded to reopen up his text book.

"Come on then, let's get back to studying."

Landon nodded in agreement. But as he sat there, he brought his hand up to rub at his cheek where the girl in his dream had kissed him. As crazy as it sounded, he swore it still felt warm.


	2. A Trial By Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got in a little over my head when I picked my theme for this trial, (which I high-key regret at this point. Haha.) so I'm splitting it up into two chapters.
> 
> Not as happy with this as I'd like to be, (I often kept getting annoyed and working on the third trial chapter instead. Oops.) but I'm committed to finishing this thing.

As Hope and Clarke entered the marked door, they found themselves back once more in the black abyss that was Malivore.

The auburn haired girl had certainly not missed this place one bit. The all consuming void that tried to strip you of any and all hope that'd you'd ever make it out of here was not a welcome sight. Even that apocalyptic world she'd previously been in was somehow better than this place. But she took solace in the fact that she had made it past the first trial, which meant she was one step closer to finally getting back home.

She glanced around, waiting for Malivore to inevitably speak. After a few moments, he finally did.

"Well done." The voice rumbled from the darkness. "You have passed the first trial, the trial of the spirit. Your next one, the trial of the body, awaits."

* * *

Darkness.

When Hope opened her eyes, that's what she saw. For a moment, she thought she was still stuck in Malivore, but then she realized this darkness was a bit different. She could see through it, albeit, only partially. There was something obscuring her vision, and making her breathing rather difficult too. Some kind of bag, burlap she'd venture to guess based off the scratchy feeling it left on the sides her face, was covering her entire head. When she tried to free herself of it, she became quickly aware of the shackles around her wrists that prevented her from doing so.

She was being marched forward, lead rather tightly by the arm, to some unknown destination. Whatever situation she'd found herself in, it certainly wasn't good.

When they finally stopped, the bag was swiftly removed from her head and the world came harshly into view, her eyes needing a moment to adjust. She glanced around at where she was and found she was in a place which happened to look an awful lot like a castle. It was certainly a unique setting.

As she looked ahead, she saw three familiar faces before her, causing her to exhale in relief. Dr. Saltzman sat atop a intricately carved throne while his twin daughters flanked him on either side. Lizzie seemed bored, as if she had been forced to sit through something dull for hours, while Josie appeared distracted, her mind clearly somewhere else. Though Hope looked happy to see them, they did not look so keen on seeing her.

"Bow before his majesty." Someone commanded from behind her, but Hope was to preoccupied trying to make sense of things that she didn't quite hear him. It wasn't until she found herself being forcefully shoved forward down onto her knees that she became lately aware of it.

As she turned back at the knight who had pushed her, eyes narrowed at him in annoyance, she noticed another face she recognized. Jed's.

"State your name before the court." He instructed.

"Hope." She replied through clenched teeth, but then hesitated a moment on what last name to give. The Mikaelson family name tended to be a notorious one, and though they might not even exist in this fictional world, she thought it perhaps safer to give her mother's surname instead. Just in case.

"Hope Marshall."

"Hope Marshall, you have been brought here to be judged for your crimes." Alaric announced from atop his throne. "The destruction of the village of Mystic Falls."

Her eyes widened in shock and she hastily forced herself back onto her feet to defend herself of such a crazy accusation.

"You have the wrong person. I did no such thing."

"The evidence says otherwise."

Hope was unconvinced by the threat.

"What evidence?"

Alaric sat up straighter.

"Your strange clothing is clearly foreign, you wear the colors of our enemy and you were found near the scene of the crime."

"Really? That's all you've got? That doesn't prove anything." Hope replied defiantly, causing the others in the room to audibly gasp at her disrespectful manner of speaking to the king. It even began to peak the attention of the previously bored Lizzie, who was suddenly finding this little show worth watching.

"Fine. Then what about a witness?" He offered, a pleased grin on his face as Hope looked taken aback by the new twist as Alaric gestured to a woman standing off to the side of the room. She was dressed in fine clothing, adorned with lace and wearing a gold necklace studded with bright ruby gemstones with earrings to match. As Hope glanced down at her own appearance, with her soot covered hands and the singed marking all around the edges of her clothes, she saw for the first time what rough shape she was in. It was no wonder they'd take this woman's word over her own.

Hope swallowed hard, as she stood there trying to figure out what to do. She didn't have much of a defense, at least not one to be believed. So how was she going to get herself out of this? If she didn't think of something, she'd be charged with a crime she didn't commit. She glanced around her, desperately searching for some sort of ally who could help prove her innocence, but found no one.

"I think I've heard enough." King Alaric announced, taking her silence as a form of confirmation as he stood up from his seat. "I have been presented with all that I need to make my decision. Hope Marshall, I find you guilty of the destruction of the village of Mystical Falls. Take her away to the dungeons, she will be executed at dawn."

A gasp escaped her throat as she lurched forward, but found herself being immediately pulled back by the arm by Jed.

"You can't do this! I'm innocent! Please!" She yelled out in vain, as she was dragged away out of the throne room. He pleas feel on deaf ears.

Hope tried to calm her racing mind as she attempted to put together some semblance a plan. Fighting her way out right now was way to risky of a move. No, she needed a more strategic approach.

She had until morning to get herself out of this, which was plenty of time. Once they brought her to her cell, when the time was right, she could easily use her magic to help her break out. So what she needed to do now was take in her surroundings the best she could to help her plan her escape later. This place looked like a maze, so the more she could pick up on the better.

As they passed down several corridors, Hope made mental notes of how many they'd been through and if there were any distinguishing factors about them. Her observations however were rudely interrupted when she suddenly felt the hilt of sword being thrust directly into her stomach.

It knocked the wind out of her and she crumpled into a heap on to the floor, clutching her abdomen in pain as she struggled for air. The man standing above her snickered in pleasure as he stooped down some to look her in the face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did that hurt? There's plenty more where that came from."

But just before he could deal another blow, a male voice called out from further down the hall.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

Hope managed to force her eyes open enough see someone dressed in the same armor jogging awkwardly down the corridor towards them. This knight was a bit shorter, but the visor of his helmet was down, obscuring his face as well as distorting his voice some.

"Just giving this little wretch what she deserves after what she did to that village."

The man tilted in his head in what seemed like confusion. "I thought they said they found her among the rumble and that she was just being brought in for questioning?"

Jed shrugged apathetically, not caring much either way for that particular detail. "There was a witness passing by apparently, said they saw the whole thing. King Alaric already passed his judgement on her finding her guilty. So I might as well get it in now, before they execute her at dawn."

"I didn't do it." Hope responded hoarsely, her breathing still a tad labored as she painfully tried to push herself into a sitting position on the floor.

"Liar!" Jed shouted as he went to kick her in retaliation, but the other knight stepped in front of her before he was able to.

"Whoa, there. Let’s take it down a notch." The young man spoke, attempting to decelerate the situation with the irate guard.

Jed angrily clenched his hand into such a tight fist that his knuckles turned white. "I had family in that village, man! And she- she just- obliterated it. I saw the aftermath. There's... There's nothing left." His shoulders sagged in some semblance of defeat and helplessness as he recalled the devastation.

The other knight let out a heavy sigh of sympathy, his breath vibrating through the slits of his helmet. He felt for his fellow guardsman, he really did, but this wasn't the first time he'd let his short temper get the better of him.

"I know. And I'm sorry. I get that you’re angry, but prisoner or not, you can't treat her like that. Isn't that how you lost your position as Captain of the guard to Raf?"

Anger flashes in Jed's eyes at the reminder and he forcefully pushed the other man up against a wall, his armor clanking loudly, grinding up against the stone in the process.

"Watch it, new guy! You might have friends in high places here, but I am still your superior. Remember that." He released his grip, but not before giving him one last shove for good measure and storming off down the hallway, leaving him to deal with the prisoner.

The knight took a moment to shake off the encounter and approached Hope, who was trying to get back up on her feet, which proved a tad difficult with the shackles. He offered her a hand helping her up, and she murmured her thanks, then proceeded to guide her to her destination.

She arrives in a long room with jail cells lining both sides, and the guard leads her into and removes her shackles before closing and locking the bars behind him. Hope slumps back against one of the walls, and momentarily shuts her eyes a moment, surprised by the fact that her abdomen is still sore.

When she opens them back up, she notices that just before he leaves, he nods in the direction of one of the other prisoners. But before she can lean forward to see who, someone else spoke up.

"Bout time you joined us Mikaelson." A voice called out from an adjacent cell, causing Hope to groan slightly.

She really didn't feel like dealing with Clarke right now, but at least she didn't have to worry about finding him this time around. She didn't even bother asking why he was in here, she could only assume he had ticked off the wrong person. That did appear to be his forte after all. As she replayed what he said in her mind, she noticed something.

"Us?"

She crawled forward and peered through the iron bars of her cell to spot, none other than Penelope Park, in the cell across the way. The bob haired girl stood, hip leaning against the wall, fiddling with a bracelet on her wrist. She glanced up to acknowledge Hope.

"You seem like you'll be much better company than this guy." Penelope gestured over to Ryan's cell with a tip of her head and Hope smirked.

"Clarke and I are unfortunately already acquainted, so I can certainly confirm that."

Penelope brought her hand up the her chest and winced in mock pain. "My deepest sympathies."

Hope swore she could actually hear Clarke's eye roll one cell over and chuckled to herself.

"So new girl, what are you in for?"

"They think I burned down a village. I didn't. You?"

"I'm from an enemy kingdom. They caught me here in the castle and think I'm a spy. I'm not."

The two young woman exchanged a nod, coming to a silent understanding to leave those matters at that for the time being. They had shared all they felt they needed to.

"I'm Penelope, by the way."

"Hope." The auburn haired girl offered as she stood up to better examine her cell. Stone walls covered 3 sides, while the front was barred with iron rods. The lock holding her in seemed fairly basic, nothing her magic couldn't handle. But looks could be deceiving, so one might as well give it a little test run for later. She certainly didn't need any unnecessary surprises.

"Dissera Portus." Hope recited quietly, hands out in front of her, gaze fixated on the lock. But nothing happened. She tried again, a little louder this time, but to no success. Penelope raised an eyebrow in confusion at what she was doing, but Hope didn't notice.

"Oh come on, not again." She muttered under her breath in frustration. At least the explained her slow recovery. "What kind of fantasy world is this, where magic doesn't work?"

“Maybe you’re just broken." Clarke offered, unhelpfully from next door. Though a stone wall separated them, it didn't stop Hope for shooting a glare his general direction.

With her magic out of commission yet again, she'd need to come up with a different plan of action.

* * *

As night came, one of the knight's had returned and brought food for the imprisoned trio. Hope glanced down at the bowl of mush, clearly hoping this would not turn out to be her last meal. The guard stood by as they ate, and Hope watched him to see what she could learn, as well as get a better look at the armor in search of potential weak areas she could exploit.

Towards the end of their meal, a figure dressed in a sapphire cloak, hood pulled up over there head, appeared at the entrance of the prison area. The person glanced around a moment, in search of something, then approached the guard standing watch inside.

"I need you to keep a look out." Spoke the voice of a young woman in hushed tones. The knight obediently nodded and proceeded towards the entrance to keep watch outside in the castle hall.

Hope watched curiously as the figure stepped up to one of the cells, Penelope's, before kneeling down and dropping her hood to reveal herself. As the cloth fell to her shoulders, it showed to be none other than Josie Saltzman underneath. It was somehow both a bit surprising and yet, really not surprising at all. Some things never seemed to changed, no matter what world they were in Hope had realized.

"Jojo, you came!" Penelope greeted, and the two woman came closer and leaned their foreheads against one another through the space between the bars.

"Of course." She attested. "Nothing would have stopped me."

Josie pulled back a moment to get a better look at her, and was immediately overcome with guilt and regret at seeing Penelope stuck behind bars. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"This is all my fault. I- I got careless, and you got caught and-"

"Hey," Penelope cut her off, reaching out and clasping Josie hands in hers. "This wasn't your fault. We knew we'd get caught eventually. It was always bound to happen, but that doesn't mean it wasn't worth it."

Josie gave her a pained half smile, trying her best to put on a brave front. "Definitely worth it.

Just then a noise within the prison caught her attention and Josie suddenly realized they weren't alone in here. She looked around awkwardly at the other two prisoners that were serving as her unwanted audience to their reunion.

"Oh, don’t mind us." Clarke spoke up from his cell. "We’ll probably be dead in the morning anyway. So please, carry on."

Hope rolled her eyes in annoyance, but said nothing, letting the two young women have their moment together.

"I'll get you out of here Pen, I promise." Josie assured and Penelope smiled, squeezing her hand a little tighter.

"I know you will, Jojo."

The sound of metal boots against the stone floor caught their attention and they frantically looked up to find the source, and were relieved to see it was only the knight from earlier.

"Sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt your highness, but your sister is looking for you."

Josie looked up at him and nodded, knowing this meant it was her time to leave. She and Penelope shared one last passionate kiss before sadly having to part. Josie slowly stood up, brushing off her cloak, and turned to the knight.

"Thank you, Landon." She patted him on the shoulder before moving past him, looking back once more at Penelope, before throwing her hood back over her head and exiting the room.

Hope whipped her head around in surprise, did she just hear her say Landon? He was here in this world too? Apparently she wasn't the only one who'd heard what Josie had said, because Clarke let out an exasperated groan of displeasure at his brother's name.

Landon came around to recollect the bowls from them and Hope attempted to catch a glimpse of his face through the slits of his helmet but was unable. After securing the all the items, he left them alone once again.

"Why do you hate Landon so much?" Hope asked, poking her head out a bit in an attempt to see inside Clarke cell.

"Not this again." He muttered.

This was a conversation Hope had already tried to have with him a number of times while they had been stuck in Malivore. And frankly, he was tired of it.

"Yes, this again. What did he ever do to you?"

"You mean besides breaking my neck with a whip?”

Hope rolled her eyes a his attempts at deflection. She could understand him being mad at that, but honestly, the guy had just released the most powerful monster to ever walk the earth, so it's not exactly like it wasn't warranted. Besides, from what Landon had briefly told her, Clarke had felt this way even before that incident had occurred.

"Just answer the question.”

Clarke paced around in the cell aimlessly. She was a relentless one, he'd give her that. She refused to let this one go. Maybe it was time he at least gave her something to shut her up. Anything to end this tiresome topic.

"He's our father's golden child, the perfect one. He got everything. He has it easy."

Hope arched a brow up in disbelief. "Really? If you consider his mom giving him up as a baby, abusive foster parents, getting killed by one of his own friends, and being kidnapped an easy life, then sure. Landon's life has been nothing but puppies and rainbows."

"You think my life's been easy!?" Clarke lashed out, coming forward and gripping the bars tightly between his palms. Hope took a step back in surprise, but didn't relent.

"I'm not saying that it has. What I'm saying is you two might have more in common than you think when it comes to your screwed up father. You're hating someone who's also just a pawn in Malivore's big endgame. Landon might have been what Malivore always wanted, but loving someone and using someone are two extremely different things."

Ryan let out huff of air and released his grip on the iron bars, returning back into his cell out of Hope's view.

"He's not your enemy! Look, you two have a chance to be brothers. All Landon has ever wanted was to have a family, don't you want that too?"

"Well, just because we want a family doesn't mean we get to have one." He replied harshly. "Now I'm done talking about this. Goodnight."

Hope had clearly touched a nerve and there was definitely something more to that statement then Ryan was letting on. But she knew for now, it was better to simply let sleeping dogs lie. They needed to get soms rest, tomorrow they needed to get out of here. She preferred not to think about what will happen if they don't.


	3. The Belly Of The Beast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this chapter was way harder to finish for some reason that I thought. It's a tad rushed in places, and I'll have to polish it bit more later, but I really wanted to get it out. Especially because I'm really excited for the next chapter, which is about 80% done at this point.

Morning had arrived and Hope slowly opened up her eyes to see the once purple sky through the window, starting to welcome the rising sun as it began to turn a warm golden color. The general quietness and cursory glance around at her surroundings confirmed to Hope that she was the first one awake of the prisoners, but she wasn't alone.

Off to the left side she noticed a guard, undoubtedly here to take her to her execution, was standing outside her cell. He was facing away from her and she watched him carefully through half closed eyes, in case he decided to turn around. It appeared he was seemingly waiting for her to wake up as opposed to forcefully dragging her out of here half asleep. Clearly this wasn’t Jed, which she found surprising, since she suspected he would have jumped at the chance to see her lose her head.

But it appeared whoever it was, hadn’t noticed she was awake yet, which was beneficial for her escape plan. With her magic still out of commission, the plan was a simple one; knock out the guard, steal his keys and toss him into one of the cells. From there she'd grab Clarke and hopefully use what she learned yesterday to evade the patrols and find the door out of here.

The first step; taking out the guard. With nothing heavy objects in her possession, she'd have to resort to a different method of knocking him out. She had ripped off a strip of fabric from her cot the night before, twisting it until it became thick and stiff. Her plan was slip it through the poles, over the knight's head and pull back against the bars with a enough force to knock him out. If that didn't work, then it could be used temporarily cut off his air supply until he passed out.

It was a rough plan, she'd be the first to admit, but she didn't exactly have a lot of options here and she was running out of time. It was time to take action.

Hope steadied her nerves as she quietly stood up and stealthily crept over to where the guard was positioned. She pushed herself up onto her toes a bit as placed her hands on both ends of the taut fabric and bent it, slipping it in between the poles and carefully up above him.

As she was about to slip it down over his head, the knight began to move and Hope froze in place as to not be caught. The man reached his hands up and carefully removed his helmet from his head, desperately in need of some cool air, only to reveal an all to familiar set of dark curly haired locks. Landon.

Hope hesitated, her hands hovering in that position as she contemplated what to do. She hated having to do this to him, fake Landon or not. The fact that she had to snap his neck to prevent him from stopping her from jumping into Malivore was something that still weighed heavily on her mind. But she needed to get out of this cell.

If she were to die in here, would she simply fail the trial or would there be more permanent repercussions? Malivore had left out a few key details in his explanation on how exactly this whole thing worked, no doubt on purpose. So Hope really couldn't take that chance.

As she debated what to do, she noticed him begin to turn around in her direction and she instinctively stumbled back as quietly as she could, onto the ground in an effort to appear as if she'd just awoken. Luckily for her he didn't seem to notice. She discreetly discarded the fabric and feigned a sleepy expression.

"Oh, hey. You're awake." Landon noted, seeming a tad anxious. Something about it reminded Hope of a skittish dog who had done something wrong and was about to get swatted with a newspaper. "Uh, how's you stomach?"

"Huh?" Hope tilted her head slightly as she looked up at him, rather confused by such an odd question.

"From what happened yesterday, with Jed?" He added, helping fill in the blanks for her.

"Though that was probably a dumb question to ask considering..." He trailed off awkwardly as he made the realization that a sore abdomen would be the least of her problems in a couple of minutes.

Hope blinked in surprise. That had been him? Looking back, it made sense, especially when you add in his contentious relationship with Jed.

Landon glanced back out the window nervously, the sky growing even lighter and Hope suddenly remembered why he was actually there. She stood up and stepped forward as she wrapped her hands around a set of bars in her cell.

"I didn't burn that village." She repeated emphatically.

His eye flicked up to meet hers, but he can't hold her gaze and looked down at his feet. Bound by duty, he's conflicted here. He eventually glanced back up at her and slowly nodded.

"I believe you.” He admitted quietly.

Hope's postured instinctively straighten, a bit caught off guard by his response. "You do? Why?"

"Three reasons. For one, it just doesn't add up. I mean, think about it... If you're gonna burn down a village, why bother to stick around afterwards? Not to mention that witness, did you see the way she was dressed? No way woman dressed that nice was traveling by herself like that. I mean, she didn't have a carriage or a horse."

Hope couldn't help but chuckle a little, rather amused by how much he'd analyzed the whole scenario. But that was Landon for you.

"And the other reason?" She asked curiously.

"I... I don't know. I just..." He stares at her intently, as if the answer will somehow manifest itself on her face. As if it will somehow explain the strange emotions he's having right now. Hope does her best to ignore the warm feeling in her chest at his gaze and remind herself none of this is real.

"Call it a gut instinct, I guess. A feeling."

Hope gave him ghost of a smile, suddenly missing her Landon.

She can't help but find that in someways, this situation feel almost reminiscent to when Landon was being held down in the werewolf transition space. Only this time the roles are reversed. She’s the outsider that's locked up while he's the one on the outside. But unfortunately in this scenario, the stakes were much higher.

It was then that the ground beneath there feet slowly began to rumble as the walls started to shake around them. As Hope looked up, she caught sight of something red streaking across the sky through the window. Landon whipped his head around as a loud crashing noise was heard off in the distance. The sound also caught the attention of Clarke and Penelope, who were startled awake.

Suddenly an out of breath knight came bursting in from the hallway. "The castle is under attack by the likes of nothing we've ever seen! Some kind of terrifying, winged, fire breathing reptile. All assigned guards are to report to the courtyard at once to defend the castle." With his message delivered, the man turned on his heel and rushed off to inform the others of the news.

Hope knew that kind of description could only mean one thing... Dragons.

"What on earth is a dragon doing here?" Hope murmured to herself. It made sense obviously, given the fantasy like world she found herself in, but she'd never expected to see another dragon again.

She had only realized that she'd said some of these things out loud when Landon suddenly sought more details from her.

"Wait, you know what that- that _thing_ is?"

Hope looked up at him and nodded. "I've fought one once before."

Landon's mouth fell open in surprise and disbelief, speechless. But Hope didn't notice as she suddenly had a huge realization.

"Of course! Now it all makes sense. That village fire, it was the work of a dragon. It was that woman in court, the one who claimed she saw me destroy the town. Once she'd seen everything here the castle, she saw it as the perfect next target to collect more treasure."

"Uh, wait. Time out. People can turn into dragons? Or do dragons turn into people?"

Though Hope understood his confusion and curiosity on the subject, they really did have time for her to expound on the matter. If this creature was left unchecked, they were all doomed.

"Listen, I don't have time to explain. I've seen firsthand what that thing is capable of and if we don't stop this thing soon this whole placed is a goner."

Landon shot her a quizzical look. "We? You're a civilian. I can’t just- let you risk your life like this.”

Hope inclined her head and raised up an eyebrow at him. ”You are aware I was just on my way to be executed, right?"

"Point taken." He admitted sheepishly. Though he wasn't very fond of the idea, to was his job to protect the kingdom and if there was someone who could help he owed it to at least let them try. With a short sigh, he reached for his keys and unlocked her cell door.

A relieved Hope made her way and quickly prepared to take the lead on what to do next when something stopped her.

"Forgetting something Mikaelson?" Clarke called out from his cell, making Hope groan audibly at the reminder. She sighed as she turned back around and gestured over in his direction.

"I'm also gonna need his help too."

Landon arched a skeptical brow, glancing between the two of them. "Seriously?"

"Unfortunately." Hope acknowledged begrudgingly, though if given the choice, she'd much rather leave him here.

Landon hesitated a moment, suddenly second guessing whether or not this whole crazy plan was really such a good idea after all. But he eventually decided to just take the risk, and he slipped the keys back from off his waist again and headed over to open Clarke's cell.

"Oh man, I'm gonna get in so much trouble with royal family for this." He muttered to himself, shaking his head as he imagined all the awful things that might befall him if caught.

After opening up Clarke's he made his way over to Penelope's to do the same.

"Her too?" Clarke asked curiously, stepping out from his cell and dusting himself off.

"The princess would definitely kill me if I let something happen to her."

Penelope chuckled fondly at the remark, a pleased smile on her facr as she exited. "That's my girl."

With the foursome now all assembled, they made their way out into the hall and towards there destination. But as they rounded another corner, the group came face to face with the fleeing royals who were being led somewhere safe deep within the confines of the castle. This was the last thing any of them needed.

"What is the meaning of this?" King Alaric demanded, not looking at all pleased by what he was seeing in front of him. One of his loyal knights helping 3 escaped prisoners certainly did not look good. Landon glanced around frantically trying to piece together an answer that wouldn’t get him thrown into a cell along with the others.

"Your Majesty. I uh- I can explain. You see-"

But Landon cut himself short when Princess Josie dashed past him, right towards Penelope and pulled her into a tight embrace upon seeing she that was safe. The public display caught a stunned Penelope pleasantly by surprise, and she to was quickly over with relief at the knowing Josie too was okay.

Josie's father and sister watched the reunion with varying reactions.

"Uh, what is going on? Why on earth is Josie hugging that prisoner spy girl?"

”Honey?” Her father stepped forward and looked at her, his expression a mixture of concern and confusion.

Josie turned around and inhaled a steadying breath to calm herself. This was it, no more chickening out, she had to stand up for herself and what she truly wanted. The last time she had failed to speak up, Penelope landed in prison, and she certainly wasn't going to let that happen again.

"Penelope isn't a spy." She admitted. "The truth is... we're together. That's why she was really in the castle."

A surprised Alaric seemed conflicted on how to approach the matter. He didn't want to hurt his daughter, but she was often too trusting for her own good and feared this might be the case here.

"She's our enemy, sweetheart. How can you believe this isn't all some kind... some kind of trick?"

"I know because I..." She turned back around and glanced at Penelope. "Because I love her. And the only reason we're still enemies is because we're _still_ fighting about something stupid than happened over 100 years ago. It's time for our two kingdoms to finally bury the hatchet and realize that we’re better as allies."

But before Alaric could continue to argue, another blast rocked the castle, causing small fragments of small particles and debris to drizzle down from the ceiling around them. The loosen foundation caused one of the stones to come loose, hurdling down towards the ground and a quick thinking Penelope pulled Josie out of the way just in time to avoid it.

Once the shaking stopped, Hope stepped forward, aiming to redirect the conversation to the bigger issue currently at hand.

"Not that this isn't important, but we really need to deal with that not so little, fire breathing dragon problem outside."

Lizzie nodded fervently in agreement. "That disgusting thing flambéed my new rose bushes from Prince Sebastian to a crisp. It _needs_ to pay."

Though Hope somewhat appreciated the show of support from at least one of the Saltzman's, the king was not so keen to agree to her help.

"Says the girl who burnt down a village." He remarked tersely and Hope sighed in exasperation, impatiently narrowing her eyes at Alaric.

"Look, I get it. You don't trust us. Why should you? But none of us want to die here. Dragon's are relentless and if we don't stop it soon, there won't be a castle, let alone a kingdom left for you to rule. So right now we need to work together if were gonna defeat this thing. Just let us help you. Please."

A tense moment passed before he finally respond.

"It appears we don't have much of a choice." He conceded "What do we need to do?"

"We need to lead it away from here as quick as possible."

"How exactly do we do that?" Landon asked.

"With treasure usually." Clarke finally spoke up as he stepped closer into the group. "They’re a big fan of shiny things.”

He glanced around in search of something that might do the trick and quickly found it. “This’ll work."

Clarke plucked the heavily jeweled tiara that Lizzie was wearing off of her head, much to the blonde's immediate displeasure and dismay.

“Hey! Give that back you worthless little peasant! Do you know who I am?" She reached out to try and snatch it back from out of his hand, but he held it just out of her reach, further infuriating her.

"Sorry Blondie, but we don't have time to go treasure hunting for something else."

Before she could retaliate, a terrifying roar cut though their bickering as another assault on the castle took place.

"We need to go. Now." Hope announced hastily, snatching the object that was the source of this argument from Clarke. "You guys get to safety, we'll handle this."

The king wasn't fond of be told what to do, let alone by some brazen young criminal, but he couldn't help but agree given the situation. "Come on girls." He called to the twins. Lizzie followed, but Josie didn't budge.

"I'm not going without Penelope." The brunette announced firmly, standing her ground.

Alaric, finding himself rather helpless to his daughter's wishes, paired with the fear for their safety, quickly caved to her demand.

"Fine. We'll discuss this later."

As the royals and Penelope made their leave, the other three headed outside to the courtyard where the massive crimson beast hovered high above them, circling the castle. Hope had forgotten just how big dragons were, and this one appeared to be even larger than the first one that had she faced.

She looked around at the destruction it had already wreaked, seeing the familiar ash covered bodies it left in its wake. A horrified Landon he noticed too, as he stood frozen in place upon realizing that those figures were that of his fellow guards. Hope turned and gently placed a comforting hand on his arm.

He couldn't believe or even imagine that it was possible that something could cause this much devastation so quickly. It was hard to stomach. Hope stepped back some in order to give him a moment to compose himself after what he'd seen.

An impassive Ryan quietly came up beside her.

"The whole reason Malivore was created was to take down dragons, and yet you somehow think that without your powers you can stop that thing? I can’t decide whether your incredibly stupid, crazy, or both.”

"Helpful as always I see, Clarke." She mumbled before turning to face him. "But I’m pretty sure that’s the whole point though, right? This is the trial of the body after all. To test what we're capable of without our powers."

"Or maybe you're just reading too much into this and all we really needed to do was find the door." He countered stubbornly, much to Hope’s annoyance. How was it again that she got stuck with him in this?

“Look, the door is clearly somewhere in the castle. So think of it this way, if the dragon destroys its game over."

A recomposed Landon turned back around to face them, a new level determination flowing through him. He would not let the others knights, his friends, deaths be in vain.

"How do we stop it?"

Hope nodded up in the direction of the dragon. "We need to find its soft spot. It's the only way to defeat it. The hard part is finding and getting to it. We won't get far with it being airborne."

Landon glanced around, trying to formulate a plan.

"If we can draw it into the woods, it'll restrict it's movement, preventing it from being able to fly away. At least, temporarily. That'll help our odds."

Hope nodded in agreement. "That's a start." She then turned to Clarke. "Here. Make yourself useful. You get to act has bait. Have fun." She shoved the tiara into his hands and turned back towards Landon signalling she wasn't going to argue with Ryan.

A vexed Ryan bit his tongue and begrudgingly trudged off in the direction of the woods. Once in place, he let out a loud, high pitched whistle to get the dragon's attention. The creature spun around at the curious noise and spotted Clarke waving the jeweled headpiece in the air. The beast's eyes widened then narrowed, and it came it him with an alarming speed. At it's steadfast approach, he took off running as fast as he good further into the forest.

As the dragon dove in after him, its attempts to fly were halted by a makeshift cage of branches as the amount of trees became more abundant the deeper it went. Clark smirked, quiet pleased at the scene of the struggling beast.

"Take that you flying Lizard."

With the dragon temporarily trapped, they'd have to move fast. But before Hope could tell Landon the rest of her plan, he recklessly started to charge the beast, his emotions from what he'd seen earlier getting the better of him. She tried to pull him back to stop him, but he was already out of reach.

Sword unsheathed, he was prepared to strike. In spite it's limited movement capabilities, the dragon was still able to swat him with its tail, sending Landon's sword flying in the opposite direct and him skidding back dozens of yards away.

“Landon!" Hope cried out, rushing over to his side to check on him. He let out a small groan to prove he was still alive, and Hope sighed in relief. "Idiot." She mumbled fondly under her breath. He'd tried the same thing while going after his mom back in Georgia. Similar results.

Landon tried to sit up, but sharp pain in his ribs sent him recoiling back to his previous position. He clearly wasn't in a condition to keep fighting, this meant it was solely up to her.

Unable to locate his sword, Hope reached over and pulled out a knife from his belt. As she glanced down at the weapon in her hand, she was surprised to find that she recognized it. It was the knife Landon had stolen from the archives when he’d first come to the Salvatore school. Mailvore's knife.

"Where did you get this?” She questioned hastily.

"Uh, my mother. She said it had once belonged to my father. Why?"

_‘Of course it had.’_ Hope thought to herself with a shake of her head. But wait, maybe this was the key to defeating this thing. If it was anything like the real one or perhaps even, was the real one, that meant it might still contain some magical properties. They'd used it the first time they took down the dragon. So as long she was able to find the soft spot, this could work. Unfortunately, trying to find the single soft spot on a creature that big was certainly going to be a challenge.

Hope looked up to find the dragon beginning to draw back it's body, preparing to summon it flames to set the forest ablaze in order to free itself from its nature made prison. She needed to put an end to this. Now.

Knife in hand, Hope sprinted forward, ignoring Landon's concerned calls after her. She slid underneath the creature where saw a faint glow in the middle of it's stomach and hoped against hope that this was were the soft spot was located. Pulling her hand back, she plunged it straight in with all her might, causing the creature to let out a bellowing roar. Hope swiftly rolled onto her side to get out of it's way before it could collapse on top of her.

The beast hit the forest floor with a tremendous thud, sending a rippling quake throughout the ground. When the dust finally cleared, Hope stood up and carefully approached. The creature had transformed back into the shape of the woman from earlier and Hope let out a relived sigh that it was finally over.

With the dragon defeated, Landon had his wounds tended to while Hope and Clarke were absolved of their crimes. As was Penelope, much to Josie's utter relief. When offered a reward for their help, Hope simply asked if they might know of a door marked with three overlapping triangles. Though an odd request in Alaric's opinion, he complied and the duo was shown to what was normally a storage room with the castle. With the door finally found, it was back to Malivore once more.

* * *

Landon awoke from his sleep to find that it was still dark outside. He rolled over onto his side and glanced at the clock perched on his night stand, only to find that it was 11:45 PM. Tiredly, he rubbed at his face.

He'd had another dream again and it felt just like it did last time. Real. He even swore he ribs still felt sore. But that was crazy, clearly his imagination must be getting the better of him. 

He continued to lay there for awhile, but in spite of how tired he was he just couldn't seem to go back off to sleep. Annoyed, he groaned as he sat up in bed. Maybe a glass of water would somehow help. So slowly, he bumbled his way downstairs to get a drink from the kitchen.

As he came around through the door, he let a startled noise when he almost bumped straight into MG and Pedro.

"Jeez!" MG shouted, nearly jumping out of his skin, as he brought his had up to his chest. He’d been so focused on Pedro that he’d failed to hear his friend approaching.

”Sorry." Landon quickly apologized. "I didn’t think anyone would be awake down here. What are you two doing up?"

Pedro stood off to the side of the counter, clutching a stuffed unicorn tightly in his tiny arms. Landon couldn't help but stare at the animal, his eyes drawn to it for some strange reason, something in the back of his mind itched.

”Pedro was having trouble sleeping so he asked if I’d make him a peanut butter sandwich to help him got to bed.”

”Seems Pedro and are in the same boat.” Landon remarked dryly and MG turned his focus from the jar of peanut butter to that of his friends.

”Why’s that?”

Landon sighed tiredly as he took a seat on one of the stools.

"She was back again."

”Who?”

"The girl from my dream the other day.”

MG seemed a tad surprised by this information. 

”And you’re sure you don’t know her?” He asked and Landon shook his head.

“Not as far as I know.” Propping up his elbow onto the counter, Landon rested his face up against his palm.

”Hey, you don’t think that...” The phoenix paused, debating whether or not the thought was to silly to mention.

MG curiously glanced up from his sandwich making.

”What?” 

“You know how we all realized that there’s someone missing from the school, but don’t remember who. What if it’s her?”

The vamp chewed on the information for a bit, thinking it over before eventually shrugging. “I mean, it’s possible. It would explain some things. But, it might also just be a dream. Is there anything or anyone else that seems out of place?"

Landon started to tell him no, but then stopped as he remembered another person that fit that description.

”Yeah actually. Some tall annoying guy shows up a lot with her too.”

“Her boyfriend?”

“God I hope not.” Landon replied instinctively, his voice surprisingly vehement. His tone did not go unnoticed by MG, who he stared at his friend curiously.

”What?”

MG shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just, for a guy who has a girlfriend, you seem really bothered about dream girl having a boyfriend.”

“I-“ Landon suddenly felt oddly flustered by the accusation. It didn’t help in the moment that he’d abruptly remembered that his girlfriend and her ex had also gotten back together in his dream. He was then struck by the thought that he should be far upset by that. So why then wasn’t he? Probably because he trusted Josie, right? Certainly that had to be the reason.

His efforts to convince himself of that however, weren’t as successful as might have he hoped.

“She just- deserves better than that guy. That’s all.” Landon eventually decided, though MG wasn’t really buying it. But for now, he decided it was best to leave the matter alone. After all, it was just a dream.


	4. In A Perfect World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. This chapter was a doozy, but this was a concept I wanted to play with for awhile now.
> 
> Also, as of the posting of this chapter I haven't watched the season 2 premiere yet ( I plan to watch it on Monday). I didn't want to second guess my ideas for this chapter when faced with the canon, so any overlap is purely coincidental.

"Ready to finally let us go?" Hope asked, a self assured smirk on her face as she and Clarke reentered the dark prison void. With another successful trial completed, she was confident she’d be able to handle anything he’d throw her way.

"Not yet.” Came the looming voice from above. “You have one final trial to pass. The trial of the mind. Are you ready?”

Of course she was. She only had one more trial and then she was finally out of this wretched place. There was no turning back now, not when she was this close. 

“Bring it on.”

Little did Hope know that this world would be the toughest challenge she’d faced yet, and that if she failed, there would be no means of ever escaping.

* * *

"Jeez, Hope. I can't believe you're not up yet."

The auburn haired girl let out a tired moan at the sound of Lizzie's loud voice. Slowly peeling her eyes open, she found the twins standing in the doorway of her room. Wait... her room? She was back at the Salvatore School? Had she finally escaped Malivore and made it home? No. Wait. She couldn't have. There was still one trial left to finish, and she needed to find the-

"Earth to Hope!" Lizzie yelled impatiently, much to Hope's annoyance. She groaned and begrudgingly sat up in her bed.

"What?"

Lizzie crossed her arms over her chest and stuck up her nose at Hope's attitude.

"Wow. Bitch, much? Just thought you might want to get up. After all, today's parent's day, remember?"

Hope's face fell at the mention of parent's day. She knew Lizzie could be mean at times, but this was a low blow, even for her. She shot a glare at the blonde and pulled the covers up over her head as she rolled over on her side. All this day did was remind her of the things she didn't have, and she wasn't really in the mood to deal with that today. There was no need to ruin everyone else's nice time.

"Yeah, I think I'll pass." The young woman huffed, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep until this day was over.

"But your Mom is waiting for you downstairs." Josie hastily interjected, taking a small step forward in order to be heard better.

Hope blinked in surprise at her friend's words and popped her head out from under the blanket. What on earth was she talking about? That was impossible. Her mother wasn't alive, the twins knew that.

Hope stared them down, going over every one of their features in search of a tell that they might be lying, but she didn’t find one. Was it possible they were telling her the truth? Was her mother somehow really here? She had to to know.

Throwing the covers off her, Hope hastily scrambled to her feet and pushed past the twins in a rush to see for herself.

A disgruntled Lizzie turned to look at her sister. “Jeez. What is wrong with her today? Her and that weirdo boyfriend of her's deserve each other."

Josie simply shrugged in some semblance of agreement as they watched Hope dash down the steps to the first floor.

Hope scurried through the crowded rooms filled with students and parents a like, catching a few odd looks as she did so. She didn't even care that she was still wearing her pajamas and was barefoot, none of that mattered right now.

Hope stopped in her tracks at the sight of a brunette haired woman standing off near the fireplace. She'd know her anywhere.

"Mom? Is that really you?"

The woman turned around and upon seeing her face, it took Hope less than a second to throw herself into her arms, pulling her mother into a bear tight embrace. She couldn't believe it, it was really her. Hope's attempts to hold back tears proved unsuccessful as they quietly slid down her cheeks.

"I missed you so much." She whispered fiercely, overcome with her emotions.

"I’m missed you too. But honey, it's only been a couple weeks since I last saw you."

Hope pulled back in complete surprise at her words.

"Weeks? No, no. You-"

Hope’s mind suddenly became cloudy and her intended words slipped away from her. Her brow furrowed in mild confusion as she tried to search her mind for what she had meant to say. But instead, something else drifted in and she found herself remembering that her mother was right, it had only been a few weeks since they’d last seen each other and she suddenly felt a little silly for getting so emotional.

"Sorry.” Hope apologized with a shake of her head, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. “I guess I was just feeling a little homesick. Things have been a little crazy here lately."

"It's okay, it happens." Hayley comforted her, gently smiling as she brushed her daughter's hair from her face and tucked it carefully behind her ear.

"By the way, your father will be here soon too."

Something akin to a warning light dimly flickered in the back of Hope's mind, much like a before, and she couldn't help feel like something about that statement was amiss too.

"Wait, Dad's here too? But he-"

There it went again. Her tongue tripped over itself as the words vanished before it could reach her lips. It felt as if someone was plucking her thoughts from her head. But as before, a new line of thoughts filtered into her mind, erasing her earlier doubts.

Her confusion was replaced with a smile and she nodded happily at the news. Hailey looked at her daughter curiously for a moment, then softly chuckled.

"Did you oversleep?"

Hope's puzzled by the question at first, then she immediately remembered what she was wearing. She's still dressed in her pj's.

"Oh. Right." Hope laughed, pulling at the fabric of the out of place clothing. "I should probably go get changed."

Hayley nodded in agreement and Hope began to head back in the direction of her room to do so, but she suddenly stopped and turned back around to look back at her mother. "You'll still be here when I get back, right?"

"Of course." She reassured her.

Hope smiled in relief and lingered there for a moment, not quite wanting to turn away for some unknown reason she didn't really understand.

She eventually did though, but as she headed towards the front of the school, she couldn’t help this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she was forgetting to do something. But what? It itched in an attempt to draw forth what was buried just below the surface. Wasn’t she supposed to be looking for something? Failing to remember, she eventually shrugged it off. If it was important enough, it would come to her later.

"Didn't realize parent's day was this dress casual." A voice said from behind her, causing Hope to turn around.

A smile broke out on her face as she saw Landon standing there, wearing an amused grin on his face. A teasing smile tugged at Hope’s lips as she moseyed her way over to him. 

“Oh, you didn’t hear? Pajamas are the newest fashion trend.” 

“Is that right?” He played along.

"Mhm." Hope hummed, now just inches away from him. “You should really keep up.”

”Apparently.”

Landon met her the rest of the way and he wrapped his arms around her waist as she pushed up a little onto her toes and he pulled her in for a kiss.

”Hi.” He greets when they finally part and she smiles back at him.

”Hi.”

Hope lowered herself back down and suddenly noticed something different about Landon's appearance.

"You on the other hand...” She stepped back further and gave him a quick once over. He was wearing one of the school uniforms that were used for more formal occasion, as opposed to the more casual one he tended to sport. “Look very dressed up. Not to mention nervous. Why?”

"I’m meeting your parents, remember? Thought it might help make a good impression." He anxiously scratched at the back of his neck, shoulders hunching forward some as his self doubt showed forth. "I’ve never met a girls parents before, let alone one whose mother is a werewolf alpha and whose father is a centuries old Original vampire."

Hope chuckled, finding his nervousness endearing. She wanted to assure him he had nothing to worry about, but if she was being honest, she wasn’t 100% sure she could truly guarantee that. Both her parents were very protective of their little girl and would do anything to keep her safe.

She wasn’t really so concerned about her mother, who Hope suspected would probably take a liking Landon. Her father on the other hand... well that was a different story. He wanted to see her happy, but gaining his approval would certainly not be an easy task.

"On the bright side, at least if your dad kills I'll just come back to life again.” He momentarily paused as a new thought occurred to him. “Though now that I think about it, that also means he could kill me a infinite amount of times." Landon shuddered. "That's gonna be a lot of ash to clean up.”

Hope smiled and placed a reassuring hand on his arm. “It'll be fine. Besides, I’ll protect you.”

"Guess it pays to have a badass tribrid girlfriend, huh?" Landon grinned, making Hope laugh.

"Well, I’m gonna go throw on something a _tad_ more suitable for today and I’ll meet back up you in a little bit."

Landon nodded. "Got it."

Hope ascended up the staircase and down the hall to her room. Shutting the door behind her, she slipped into her uniform and gave her hair a quick brush. She walked over to her mirror and stared at her reflection. There was a very content smile on her face and yet, she couldn't help feel like something seemed... off. Everything thing was perfect. So why did she have this strange hollow feeling in her chest?

It was probably nothing. She was just having an off day, she managed to convince herself as she exited her room.

As she came down the stairs, she looked down a moment and was shocked when she noticed wet, thick, dark mud caked all over one of her boots. She did a double take, certain she must be seeing things. Mud? Where on earth had that come from? It's not like she had gone outside, she'd just come from her room. So why would she have mud on her?

An array of images suddenly flashed inside her mind. Places. Events. Strange versions of the people in her life. Then the muddled mess of visions stopped. What the heck was that, she wondered. Were they... memories?

When she glanced down again though, the mud was astonishingly no longer there. Her shoe was completely clean. Hope swallowed nervously, trying not to freak out. Maybe she should get herself looked at to see if her powers were on the fritz or something. Whatever it was, she needed a quick moment before going to see Landon and her parents.

She stepped out the front door of the school in order to compose herself and get some fresh air. The spring breeze carrying the scent of wildflowers helped a little to relax her restless mind. Shutting her eyes, she leaned against one of the columns and inhaled a slow calming breath.

When she reopened them however, she noticed a shadow cross her path. When she looked back up, she found someone standing in front of her. He seemed vaguely familiar for some reason. Wasn't he in one of those flashes she'd just had before?

"Clarke?" She asked, a tad uncertain of herself as she looked up at the much taller man in front of her, and he smirked.

"Good. Seems your mind hasn't been completely lost to this world."

Hope stares at him in confusion. "What do you mean lost my mind?"

"This trial, it creates your perfect world. It gives you everything you've ever wanted so that you’ll never want to leave. The longer you stay, the more you begin to forget your real life, until finally, you’ve forgotten completely and you become trapped here forever. Fun no?”

Hope stood there, staring blankly at him. What on earth was this guy talking about? This wasn't her real life? Of course it was. Sure, things might have seemed a little strange lately, but when it came to the supernatural that tended to be the status quo. Clearly this man was confused and in need of some help.

"Right... I'll be sure to be careful of that then. Well, it was nice seeing you again, I guess. But I have to go back inside now."

Clarke heaved a loud sigh at her patronizing tone, bringing his had up to his forehead in mild annoyance. “Alright, maybe not so much.” He muttered to himself. She knew his name still, so she hadn’t fully succumbed to this world just yet. He just needed something that would jolt her memory, get her to remember her mission.

As Hope turned around to head back inside and away from this strange man, Clarke called out to her. "You'll never save my brother from Malivore if you don't snap out of it."

The auburn haired girl immediately stopped in her tracks. Malivore? The name sent more flashes trickling through her mind. But this time they were longer, clearer than before. Fighting the headless horseman. Rescuing Landon. Throwing herself into the pit. The two other trials.

She spun back around, wide eyed at the realization as the pieces started to fall back into place. None of this was real. She was still stuck in Malivore’s trial world. How could she have forgotten?

“The trial of the mind.” Hope reminded herself and Clarke clapped his hands together at the headway.

“Great. Now that that’s settled, let’s get a move on.” 

They decide to split up to cover more ground as they searched for the exit door out of here. Clarke took one side of the school while she took the other. 

Hope weaved through the crowded rooms filled with students and parents chatting about school related going ons. She was forcefully nudged from behind and accidentally bumped into someone standing near a painting. She looked up to apologize but stopped herself when she saw who she’d run into.

"Dad?"

“Hello, my littlest wolf.” Klaus greeted with a charming smile and Hope instinctively hugged him in relief. She enjoyed the moment, temporarily forgetting this was nothing more than smoke an mirrors. 

"Wait-" She stopped herself, regretfully pulling away from him. She was doing it again. Falling back under the tempting allure of this world. This wasn’t really her father, she reminded herself. It was simply an imagined version of him.

"I'm sorry. I can’t do this.”

“Is this not everything you’ve wanted?” He implored, trying to win her back over.

"Yes, but-" Hope shook her head. "This isn’t real.” She admitted painfully, looking away from him. “No matter how much I wish it was.”

"Well. That's really quite a shame, sweetheart."

Hope's head popped up in a mixture of surprise and confusion as his voice took on a terrifyingly icy tone. "Huh?"

His expression was dark and his demeanor complete changed. But he wasn't the only one. Everyone's face in the room took on the same look as they all began to turn on her. She stepped back nervously.

"We can always find other reasons to make you stay.” Klaus snapped his fingers and suddenly everyone around them began to launch themselves straight at her.

Hope managed to barely dodge the onslaught and take off running down the hallway, the hive mind mob hot on her heels. There were way too many of them for her to fight them off by herself. No, she needed to regroup and come up with a plan. But hopefully for now, she could slow them down.

_"Let my magic work here."_ She mentally pleaded as she turned back towards the relentless pod people behind her.

"Glace solidatur!" Hope shouted, and a sheet of ice began the cover the floor in front of her, causing the group to slip and trip over themselves as she made a break for it.

"Run!" Hope exclaimed as she sprinted by Ryan who was standing in the hall as she passed by. He stared at her fleeing form in moderate confusion until he spun around and saw the large mob chasing after her. Swearing under his breath, Ryan hastily ran after her.

“Nice going there, Mikaelson. Now you pissed them off."

“Just shut up!”

A few moments after they rounded another corner, Hope found herself being grabbed by the arm from behind and yanked into the school library. A moment later, Clarke too was pulled into the room.

They find that it was slightly out of breath Landon who had pulled them in to safety. He quickly slammed the door shut behind them and grabbed an object off the floor to shove it through the handle in a poor attempt to help barricade the door better.

"Okay. That’s definitely not gonna hold them for long. We need to come up with a pl-

"Corporis impetu!" Hope shouts, flinging out her hands, causing Landon to go flying backwards into one of the bookshelves. A few small books tumble down onto him and he lets out a pained groan from the floor as he rubs the back of his head. He stares back at Hope, utterly confused by her actions.

"Hope, what are you doing?"

She briefly turned in the direction of the door. "Vessera portus!" Hope called out, sealing it shut before turning back towards Landon and taking up a defensive stance, magic at the ready prepared to fight him off if need be.

"Sorry, Landon. But do you really expect me to believe that you're the only one here not affected by all this?”

Landon quirked his head to the side. "Uh, yeah. Isn't that usually what happens? Weird monster shows up at the school and for whatever reason I find myself immune?"

She paused. Okay, he had a point. But still, this world was trying everything in its power to make her stay here. It was already trying to use force to keep her here, this was clearly just one of its many other tactics. She couldn't allow herself to fall for it.

"No. It’s another trick.” She reminded herself. This wasn't her Landon. This was Malivore’s attempt to trap her by using him against her just like he had done with her parents.

"I'm not lying to you, Hope. I swear." He pleaded desperately, slowly standing back up and starting to come closer to her, but she quickly pulled back. "Don't- Don't come any closer." She wanted so badly to believe him, the temptation to do so was strong.

Landon took deep breath and stopped, his face a mixture of hurt and concern as he looked at her. But he held his hands up in front of him in show of understanding and stayed put as she had asked.

"I just- I just need to think." She murmured, starting to feel overwhelmed.

Clarke on the other hand, was growing steadily impatient with this whole situation.

"Well think faster. We don't have all day here. This might be your perfect world, but it sure as hell isn't mine. So hurry up and get your act together so you can get us out of this mess."

Landon glared at the other man. "Hey. Why don't you show a little compassion, huh?"

Clarke volleyed an equally displeased glare in his brother's direction. "Nobody asked for commentary from the peanut gallery."

Hope shook her head in annoyance at their bickering. Her head was already spinning enough as it was, this wasn't helping. "Enough!" She shouted, unintentionally sending an uncontrollable wave of magical energy outward, causing both men to slide back a few feet from where they had previously stood. The release of power left her momentarily panting from exertion. 

This world was starting to get to her. She didn't know who or even what to believe anymore. She felt as if she was helplessly unraveling at the seams. This place's false reality and her real one were at odds with one another, fighting an all out war in her mind. Both sides trying to convince her that they were the true reality while the other was fake. Telling the difference at times was proving to be a struggle.

But maybe the reason for that was, though she didn't care to admit it, a large part of her wanted to believe the lies of this perfect world. A world where her parents were still alive. A world where Landon and the rest of her friends still remembered her. A world where she wasn't alone.

She’d fought so hard to try to get out of Malivore, but what did she really even have to go back to anymore? Everyone she’d cared about had long forgotten her. They'd probably moved on with their lives, and were better off without her. Maybe the universe was just correcting the mistake of her ever being born and she was meant to stay here.

Hope's hands went up to grip her head, fingernails digging into her scalp and her arms began to tremble. She just wanted it to stop. All the thoughts, all the fears, all the confusion.

Landon, seeing her this way, so terrified and confused, it broke his heart. He ached to help her somehow.

"Hope?" He called out and on instinct, he moved forward to try and comfort her. But as she saw him approach she started to push him away, placing her hands on his chest to keep him back. Yet as him arms encircled her, her will to fight it quickly dissipated and she melted into the comfort of his touch, burying her head into his shirt. Landon brought up a hand to gently stroke her hair as she inhaled shaky breaths trying to calm herself.

"I don't know what do or to believe." She whispered, eyes shut, trying to block out the world around her.

"Hey. I might not know what's going on, but you're Hope Mikaelson. Monster hunter extraordinaire. There isn't anything you can't handle. It'll be okay." He reassured, but Hope shook her head against his chest to disagree.

Ryan chewed at the inside of his cheek, feeling a sense of guilt for having pressured the girl. His perfect world had been tough to break free of too, but Hope was struggling far more with it than he had.

"I thought going back was the right choice, but... maybe it isn't. I mean I-, I’m happy here. And- and if I stayed, then it could always be this way." She rationalized, contemplating the option.

“Well if life was about being happy all the time, then neither of us would have survived this long."

Hope's head popped up in surprise at the all too familiar words and she stared up into Landon's green gray eyes trying to understand.

Clarke watched the curious interaction between the two lovebirds before him with a perplexed expression on his face. It just didn’t make sense. The so called ‘people’ here, they were supposed to make you want to stay by any means necessary. So why was this Landon doing the exact opposite of that? Some sort of reverse psychology or something? It just wasn’t adding up, unless... He can’t help but scoff as he finally realized. He can't believe it took him this long to figure it out.

"That sneaky son of a-" He cuts himself off with a shake of his head. Of course. Now it all made sense. Landon and Malivore shared the same blood, that paired with his connection to Hope was causing his brother's subconscious to be pulled into these worlds along with them. Had this been part of his father’s plan or simply just an unintended side effect? He couldn’t be certain, but he also wouldn’t have put it past him if it was.

All this time it had been him, well, him mixed with the fake memories of his trial world personas. But still, it was Landon. Which meant this wasn't a trick, he was truly trying to help Hope. Clarke contemplated telling her, but decided against it. It was probably better she didn't know, it would only complicate things in her current state.

Landon could see she was still struggling, fighting an internal struggle that was threatening to get the best of her. As much as he wanted to help, he can tell that this is a personal battle only she can fight. She's the strongest person he knows, she just needs to be reminded of that.

"Look. Don't listen to your head. Just trust your instincts, you'll make the right choice."

Hope shut her eyes again, doing her best to quiet her noisy mind. Even when her thoughts were being manipulated, she'd still been able to feel when something wasn't right. With her parents, no matter how happy she was to see them, deep down something felt... wrong. But strangely with Landon, it hadn't felt that way at all. Nothing about it had felt fake or amiss in the slightest. Though she couldn't understand why that would be the case, she decided to just make a decision and follow her instincts. 

Staying here would be the easy choice, the coward's choice. Malivore was still coming, the fight wasn't over. He still sought to use Landon to further his goal and he'd eventually come for everyone else she cared about too. She couldn't just leave them to fight this all alone. Memories or not, her friends still needed her in the forthcoming battle and she wasn't about to give up on them. Not to mention if she stayed, Ryan would be trapped here too. And that really wasn’t fair to him, now matter how much of a pain he was.

Hope knew what she needed to do.

With a renewed sense of purpose, a determined fire burned behind Hope's eyes. A confident smiled graced her lips as she looked up and nodded at Landon.

"You're right. I won't let him win."

Hope stepped back and quickly reexamined the situation at hand. They didn't have a lot of options. There was only one way out of here, and it was through that door that currently had hundreds of Malivore zombies beating it down trying to get in. They needed another way out.

"I have an idea. Keep an eye on the door." Hope instructed as she made her way to the back of the room towards a certain bookshelf and scanned the various book spines in search of something. After a couple of minutes of sifting through them, she finally found what she was looking for. Pulling an old leather bound tome off the shelf, she heaved it onto the large mahogany table and opened it up.

Hastily flipping through the pages, she finally found it. A teleportation incantation. Normally a difficult magic to perform, especially since she'd be transporting not only herself but two others, Hope was putting all her faith into this. If this place was supposed to be her perfect world, maybe she had more say in what was possible here than she realized.

“Uh, Hope?" Landon called out, anxiously. "Not to rush you or anything, but I _really_ don’t think this door is gonna hold up much longer."

"Almost got it." She replied, rereading the instructions one more time for good measure.

With the spell now memorized, she slammed the book shut and rushed back over to the boys.

"Alright. Grab an arm and hold on tight."

The boys did as instructed and Hope closed her eyes as she began to quietly recite the incantation. In her mind she imagined where they needed to go and intensely focused on it as she continued to repeat the words. Wind began to build up around them and just as the door gave way to Malivore's minions, in a blink, the trio disappeared into thin air.

With a jolt, they reappeared back inside the main entrance of the school. Hope took a moment to catch her breath, then looked around at her surrounding. She'd done it, she'd got them out of there. But this would only slow their pursuers down for so long, they need to get a move on.

"What now?" Landon asked.

"A door. We're looking for a particular door.”

Landon opened his mouth the ask why, but stopped himself. Though he couldn't really understand how a door was going to be of any help to them, he trusted Hope and knew it was better to follow her lead in situations like this.

"It’s not on the first floor.” Clarke announced. “I’ve already checked down here.”

Hope nodded. "Then we're off to the second floor."

The group hurried their way up the stairs and down the long hallway, quickly peering into each room as they passed by. More than halfway through, Hope started to fear they wouldn't find it up here either. The only way this was going to stop was when they found that door or if she fully succumbed to this worlds pull to keep her here. She was determined to not let that last one happen.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hope spotted the all to familiar symbol of Malivore on someone’s closet door. She stopped short, causing a temporary pile up of people behind her. Once it cleared, she stepped forward towards the doorway to get a better look inside the room.

"There." Hope pointed towards the back of the dorm.

Clarke pushed past her to get a look and grinned in relief. "Our ticket out of here."

"My room?” Landon questioned curiously, and Hope glanced up at him in mild surprise at the exit's location.

They all stepped inside and shut the door behind them. Clarke was the first to grab the marked door, ready to pull it open, but Hope held up her hand.

"Wait."

She turned back to Landon, biting at her lip as she considered something. She couldn't help feeling like owed him some sort of explanation before just outright leaving. Yes, he wasn’t real. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t still helped her when she’d needed it.

“This whole thing, it was way tougher than I realized. But in a way, it showed me all the things I'm fighting for and that I shouldn't give up. I know it won't be easy, but the best things never are right? And though I'm pretty sure none of this will make sense to you, I just wanted you to know that."

Landon's brows knitted together slightly at her words. Why did it sound like she was saying goodbye to him or something? As he went to speak, he looked behind Hope a moment and cocked his head to the side when he suddenly noticed that Clarke was perusing his personal journal.

“Hey! Put that down! No one said you could read that.”

An unfazed Ryan glanced up slowly and gave a bored half shrug as he lazily shut the book in his hand. “Relax, your life's not that interesting."

Landon narrowed his eyes at the older man in annoyance, then turned his attention back to Hope who immediately threw her arms around him. He was temporarily stunned by the unusual gesture, letting out a content chuckle as he returned her hug.

“Not that I’m complaining but, what was that for?”

She exhaled a wistful sigh as she pulled back to take him in.

"It’s just... You're so much like him." Hope mused nostalgically, as her hand gently brushed the side his cheek. "But I guess that’s the whole point, isn’t it?"

Landon stared back at her, confusion written all over his face. "I don't understand."

Hope gave him a sad half smile. "I know you don’t, but I just wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"For reminding me just how much I still love him.”

Hope then smiled through wet eyes and pressed a slow kiss to his lips to say goodbye. One last indulgence from this perfect world. She then moved back and reached for the door handle, stepping inside and disappearing from view.

Clarke lingered behind a moment after Hope stepped through and he turns to face a somewhat shell shocked Landon. When he finally notices the other man is still there, he regards him warily. An amused smirk twists it's way onto Clarke's face and he comes to stand in front of Landon.

"Consider this a parting gift, little brother. Don't say I never gave you anything."

The taller man stepped closer and placed his index and middle finger together against his brother's forehead and pressed firmly. A crossed eyed Landon stared at his hand in confusion, tempted to swat it away, but feels a strange sensation come over him. It goes just as quickly as it came and Clarke removes his hand. He then shoots Landon a mock salute before exiting through the door behind him.

* * *

When Landon awoke from the dream this time around, he found himself lying on the floor in the middle of the library. He was surrounded by his fellow classmates, who were all staring down at him with very concerned expressions on their faces.

"Yo! He’s finally awake.” Kaleb called out over his shoulder to someone out of view.

"Uh, hey guys." Landon greeted awkwardly, not really sure what to say in this situation as he slowly sat up.

The other students gave him room as Dorian came forward to check on the boy, running some basic visual tests, asking standard questions like; What was his name? What year was it?

Though Landon’s head was still a bit fuzzy, as per usual after he had one of these episodes, he had no difficulty answering the set of questions.

“How long was I out?” He asked curiously, rubbing the back of his sore head.

"About twenty minutes.”

The Phoenix blinked in surprise. That was it? It had felt so much longer.

Dorian gave him another look over. ”You’re sure you’re alright?”

Landon nodded. “Yeah. Must be low blood sugar or something. I’ll be fine. But if it’s okay with you, I’m just gonna go rest in my room for a bit.”

Dorian still appeared concerned and not fully convinced, but eventually gave the okay and Landon left the library to head upstairs.

Finally alone to deal with his thoughts, Landon let out a sigh as he leaned his back against the door behind him. Emotionally, this dream had been the most intense one yet and he was left with an array of feelings swirling about inside him. Whatever was happening with him, it went way beyond your typical dream.

And at the center of it all was that girl. The girl he was impossibly drawn to and yet, he could never seem to remember her name. But it wasn't just her name, it felt like there was more. It was as if there was a feral cat stuck in his brain, desperately trying to claw its way out. There was something in there that wanted desperately to get through but couldn't. It always felt like it was right there, just a fingertips distance away from his grasp. It was frustrating.

With an irritated sigh, he threw himself down onto his bed, as he did so he noticed a strange crinkling sound coming from the right-side pocket of his pants. Curious, he reached his hand inside and found a small sheet of crumpled up paper. Not remembering having put something in his pockets, he carefully opened it up to see what it was.

The words “About Her” were scribbled across the top of it, followed by lyrics underneath that took up the front and back of the page. Upon taking a closer look, he was surprised when he recognized the handwriting on the paper was his own.

How was that possible? He didn’t remember writing this. Also the design on the paper, it was the same kind as from the journal he’d lost right before summer. Where had this even come from and who on earth put it there?

As he began to read through the words, he naturally hummed along to it, and someone’s face floated into his mind. But it wasn’t his girlfriend’s.

A feeling of guilt twitched in his stomach.

But still he kept reading and came across a set of lyrics that threw him for a loop and nearly caused him to drop the paper.

_'About last night, I saw a vision of the future in my dream. And I can't wait to meet who you will be. So I can know everything, about her.'_

Landon stared at the words in front of him, dumbfounded. Had he written this song about her? But, how was that even possible?

None of it made any sense and yet, despite all his attempts to deny and bury it, there was truth he couldn't seem to ignore. He loved her. Though he didn’t understand it, he knew that now. Which sounded crazy of course, he was well aware. But the constant void he'd been silently suffering with for months seemed to disappear whenever he thought of her.

The guilt from earlier continued to build into his chest as the thought of Josie came to his mind. These feelings he had for the dream girl, he’d never felt that way about Josie. He’d never felt that way about anyone and yet, the feeling was somehow strangely familiar.

He knew what he had to do. He needed to break things off with Josie. It wasn’t fair to her to continue on with their relationship when clearly he had feelings for someone else. Though he didn’t even know if this girl really even existed or was just some strange figment of his imagination, it made him realize that there was always something missing in their relationship. He cared for her, but not in the way a boyfriend should.

Maybe he was making a huge mistake with all this when it came to the girl from his dream, who knows? But try as he might, he couldn't give up hope.


	5. The Girl Of His Dreams (It's All In The Name)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for this taking so long to finish, I'm not great with writing endings, but it’s finally done! Kinda had way too much fun giving Clarke a back story. Lol.

Hope let out a sharp gasp as she stumbled forward onto the grass, her limbs and clothing thickly coated with a layer of mud. Air filled her lungs and she brought a hand up to help shield her eyes from the bright sunlight beating down on her. Looking around, she found herself out in the middle of a field, Clarke was there too.

She was afraid to get her hopes up, but this place felt different than the others she'd found herself in before. The colors were brighter, the air was cleaner and the world around her seemed to buzz with life, a clear contrast of the pit.

"Did we really do it? Are we finally back?"

"Looks like it." Clarke commented warily, as he moved to stand up. When he looked around and finally saw where they were, he recognized the area as where he'd ended up last time Malivore had decided to let him go. They’d actually done it, they were finally free from Malivore. Well, at least in one regard anyway. He chose to focus on that part for right now.

He exhaled loudly in relief. “Thank God for that. I’m not sure how much more I could stomach of your little romantic escapades with my brother. Especially that last one."

He shuddered in displeasure and Hope rolled her eyes at his complaining, then arched a brow at him as something dawned on her. "Which reminds me, you sure knew a lot about how that last trial worked by the time I saw you." She paused. "You went through one too, didn't you?"

Ryan made a face at her realization, he was really starting to hate how observant she was. He thought he'd gotten away with that little detail, apparently not.

He gave a slight shrug as a vague form of confirmation and Hope looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to go on, causing Clarke to scoff dismissively at the notion. "Yeah, that’s _**certainly**_ not happening.”

"You saw my perfect world, I think it's only fair." She countered, arms crossed over her chest. She knew it was a hard thing to talk about, but if she had to have all her personal wishes on display for him to see, she certainly wasn't about to let him off the hook that easily.

"Hard pass."

Hope shrugged. "Fine. Stay muddy then.”

A look of confusion crossed Clarke faces a moment, then Hope swirled her finger around and recited something aloud, causing the mud on her clothes and skin to dissipate into thin air, leaving her completely clean.

Clarke narrowed his eyes at her. "You think a little mud is going to get me to spill my guts to you?"

Hope tipped her head knowingly. "Actually, I do."

Ryan frowned, grumbling quietly to himself as he noted his muddy form. He remembered how annoying it was last time this happened. There wasn't a body of water around for miles and most establishments won't let you in when you're covered in mud. Not to mention, mud doesn't exactly feel great in certain places when it finally winds up drying.

With a annoyed sigh, he eventually conceded. If Hope had really wanted to, she could've always just used her magic to make him tell her what had happened anyway. He doubted she would when it came to something this personal, but he didn't want to risk it. He hated losing control and this was one story he would not let anyone take from him in that way. This was his tale to tell.

“Fine. I’ll tell you a story.”

Hope smirked triumphantly and began to listen.

"I had someone once. Decades ago. She was a vampire. We- we were happy." He recalled fondly, his features momentarily softening before his face suddenly clouded over with a deep seeded bitterness.

"But when monsters started to show up at her doorstep, I quickly realized _daddy_ wasn't so keen on the pairing. Having his kid fall for one of the three creatures that helped create him was apparently a big no no in his book at the time." Clarke spat, an obvious disdain for his father leeching through with each and every word out of his mouth.

"Despite all my efforts, they weren't stopping, the creatures they- they just kept coming." He voice grew quieter. "Afraid for her, I broke things off. It was the only way to keep her safe. I never told her why, at least not the real reason anyway. She would have tried to fight it, fight for us. So I... I let her go."

Hope frowned sympathetically, but chose to keep quiet as he continued on with his tale.

"All of Malivore’s children had the same flaws, save for golden boy Landon of course, one of which was that they were all sterile. As you know, it's much the same for vampires in the sense. It was one of the things we'd bonded over. But in that place, that perfect world, things were different. We were able to have all the things this world had denied us. A family. Malivore knew that and used it as the basis for his mind games. And in doing so, made me lose her all over again."

Clarke's right hand suddenly clenched tightly into a fist as a scowl formed on his face. "I'm never gonna be free of that son of a bitch."

Hope took a step forward.

"You're right." Clarke looked up at her in mild surprise. "Just because we escaped, doesn't mean this fight isn't over. Malivore's still coming for Landon, and I'll be damned if I let that happen." An intensity burned in her eyes, as she spoke. While trapped inside that prison, she could feel the creature's cold, soulless desires. People and monsters alike were nothing but tools to be used to get what he so desperately wanted. She refused to let Landon become another pawn in his game.

"None of us are safe if he finally manages to rise. He needs to be stopped and this time I plan to make sure that happens."

Ryan took in her words a moment before giving a firm nod of agreement. "Well, I hope you succeed. For _all_ of our sakes."

Hope couldn't help but get the feeling that maybe even Landon was included in that 'all of our sakes' statement. Who knows, maybe the two brothers did stand a chance at one day considering the other family. Only time would tell.

"Well then, a deals a deal."

Hope then recited the earlier incantation, and gave her a finger a twirl about in a circle. Clarke's mud covered form began dissipate, leaving his dark suit once again spotless.

"So, do you know what ever happened to her?” Hope asked curiously as she buttoned up her jacket, causing Clarke to sigh heavily as he looked off into the horizon.

"I kept tabs on her for a little afterwards, to make sure she was safe. But after awhile I just..." He shook his head softly, not caring to go any further on that topic. "It doesn't matter though, even if she wasn't with anyone it's not like there’s anything to go back to. All the memories she had of me were wiped long ago, the first time I submitted myself into Malivore."

Hope gave a small helpless shrug, but her voice was was surprisingly hopeful as she spoke. "But maybe, maybe you two don't have to let that be your ending. You fell for each other the first time, doesn't mean it can't happen again."

Clarke turned back around and raised a brow at that and stared down at the short, auburn haired tribrid before him. "That advice also for yourself, Mikaelson?"

Hope exhaled a shaky, emotional breath in response. It was. She didn't know what awaited her and Landon. She wasn't sure yet how much time had passed, but it was enough that the seasons had changed and it was now Fall. Who knew what had happened in that span. Still, she wasn't ready to give up. She only hoped she wasn't too late.

* * *

Landon took a steadying breath as he stared into the mirror, trying to prepare himself. He was meeting Josie downstairs in a couple of minutes. He'd never really broken up with someone before, not that he suspected it would've made it any easier if he had. But it needed to be done. It wasn't fair to Josie. She should be happy and with someone who truly loved her in the way that she deserved. Landon had realized now that he just wasn't that person. His heart lay somewhere else.

Trying summon up some semblance of courage, he shut his eyes and took one more deep breath before he exited his room and made his way downstairs to where they had planned to meet.

He found Josie outside staring off up at the clouds, appearing rather distracted in her own thoughts to the point that she jumped slightly in surprise when she saw him out of the corner of her eye. He was quick to apologize for startling her.

"Hey." Landon greeted nervously as she began to approach and the two went in for an rather awkward hug. It appeared things were already off to a weird start, he wondered if she had noticed it too.

Josie pulled away and looked at him cautiously. "You said you wanted to talk?"

Landon's eyes went wide a moment as she immediately broached the topic and he quickly nodded his head trying to push through his nerves. He need to be gentle, but precise and not the stammering mess he tended to be when it came to serious emotional matters. Dragging this on would only be worse for the both of them, it was time to just rip off the band-aid.

“Yeah, I did. Uh... Josie I-“

“I’ve been talking to Penelope!” The brunette hastily blurted out all of a sudden, hands flying to cover her mouth, causing Landon to do a mental double take as he tried to process her spontaneous confession. He blinked repeatedly, frozen in place with confusion. He certainly hadn't expected this conversation to take a turn such as that.

"Wait. What?"

Josie fidgeted nervously, wringing her hands together in guilt. "When I was doing more research on the merge, I wound up reaching out to her to see if she and her family maybe knew anything." She began to explain, chewing at the inside of her cheek. "At least... it started out that way."

"Nothing happened!” She was quick to assure him. “But the more we kept writing each other it uh,- it kind of stirred up some old feelings and I thought I should tell you. I'm sorry. Are you mad at me?”

Landon can't exactly say he's all that surprised by this outcome, if he's being honest with himself. Though he wasn't around when the two had originally dated, he recalls that second dream with them where they were together and if that was anything to go by, it made sense. Not to mention, MG had said it himself; _"You’re great as friends but, never really saw you guys being a couple. I kinda always thought that she and Penelope would end up back together."_ Seemed his friend had been right on both counts after all.

Landon shook head as he focused back Josie. "No, I'm not mad." He gave a small half shrug, glancing down a moment before meeting her eyes. "But maybe... it just confirms what we already probably knew."

“What do you mean?” Josie asked curiously, head tipped in slight confusion at his words.

“Doesn’t this,” He gestured between the two of them. “Feel kinda off to you? Like something is... kinda missing between the two of us?"

Her shoulders sagged a bit and she looked up him sheepishly, biting her lip. "You thought so too?"

"I think maybe, we tried to make more out of this than what is was. You were still dealing with learning about the merge and Penelope leaving, and I..." Landon trailed off, not quiet sure how to sum up that void he'd been feeling all these months without making Josie feel like she was somehow inadequate or something. He'd started to kind of understand the reason for the emptiness, it was something to do with the girl he believed. But he really couldn't explain it in a way that made sense, so he thought it better to leave that part out for now.

"With all that's happened with Malivore and with Raf, I think we might have used this as a way to cope with everything."

Josie gave a slight sigh and nodded affirmatively at his words. "I think you're right, it was a welcome distraction from the current chaos that is our lives."

"Gotta love being a supernatural, right?" Landon joked dryly and they both let out a quiet chuckle.

A beat passed and Landon looked up at Josie seriously for a moment.

"I still care about you though, and I want to help you figure out how to stop the merge, that hasn't changed."

Josie nodded and smiled. "I know that. Thanks, Landon. Same goes for helping you find a way to turn back Raf. Still friends?"

"Yeah, definitely."

* * *

It had been over a week since Landon had dreamnt of the girl. The strange dreams he'd been having lately had suddenly stopped all together, much to his disappointment. Just when he felt like he was starting to finally get some answers, albeit vaguely, they'd ceased. Had he done something wrong? Had something happened? Maybe they never really were anything more than dreams after all. Maybe he'd just lead himself to believe they were to help fill this terrible empty feeling that constantly sat in his chest.

He let out a sigh and propped an elbow up onto the table as he sat outside the Mystic Grill, glancing at the menu and waiting to order. He wasn't really sure why he was even bothering to look at the menu, it really hadn't changed much since his days of working here. At this point, it was really just an excuse to having something normal to stare at while his mind wandered.

“Welcome to the Mystic Grill. What can I get you?"

The sudden interruption in his thoughts temporally startled Landon, and he glanced up at the waitress standing in front of his table. He was about to tell her his order when he saw her face. He nearly knocked over his glass of water in surprise, but managed to save it from spilling on the waitress and himself.

It was her.

Mouth hanging open, he couldn't help but stare wide eyed. The petite auburn haired girl with blue eyes and the charming smile, he'd know her anywhere. He couldn't believe it, she was actually here, in the flesh. A content smile tugged at his lips, he'd been afraid he'd never see her again.

His eyes shot to her shirt in hopes of finally knowing her name, but of course she didn't have a name tag on. It figured. Guessed he'd have to go about learning it the old fashioned way.

“Are you okay?” She asked with a tip of her head and concern in her voice.

"Yeah. Sorry, it's just- You look like a girl from my dreams." Landon said without thinking, then stopped a moment as he suddenly realized just how that sounded. "That was not meant to be a cheesy pick up line, I swear." He assured her and she chuckled, but then she paused to think about something he'd said.

“Your dreams?” She asked curiously, her fingers suddenly clutching the small order notebook in her hands a bit tighter.

Landon groaned inwardly. He can't believe he'd actually said that out loud. How on earth was he going to explain that without sounding like some weirdo or creep? You can't just be like _'Hey, I know you don't know me, but I've been having these weird dreams with you in them and I think I'm in love with you.'_

No, he was sinking this ship before it even had a chance to leave the dock. There was so much he wanted to know, but there was no guarantee she even had any answers. Maybe it was better to try this again tomorrow, before he managed to somehow screw it up completely beyond repair. It would give him time to form a plan of sorts, one that hopefully included him making far less of a fool of himself.

“Never mind. You know, I’m just gonna go now and save myself from any further embarrassment." He always did slip into self deprecation as a crutch in times like these. "Excuse me.” He quickly stood up from his chair, hoping to make a swift exit from the scene.

"Landon, wait!" She called after him, much to her own surprise as well as his, causing Landon to stop dead in his tracks. How on earth did the girl know his name?

He spun around in shock and started to slowly but carefully reapproach her. The young woman's fingers fidgeted with the notepad in her hands as he stared at her with wide eyes, scanning her up in down in search of answers.

"You’re her, aren’t you? That girl I’ve been having the dreams about. Are you the one behind all this? Were you doing that to me?"

"I-" Hope hadn't planned to reveal herself anytime soon, she had wanted to wait until she found the right time, but clearly that wasn't an option anymore. It had been so long since she'd been this close to the real thing, that she wasn't ready for him to walk away from her yet. When she saw ready to leave, his name just spilled out in an attempt to stop him. Now that it had, there was no turning back.

As she replays his questions over in her mind again, she finds herself rather confused by them, now that she thought about it. "Wait, doing what to you? And what you mean by dreams?"

Landon throws his hands up halfway and paces slightly as nervous energy manifests itself, all while thoughts, theories, and feelings bounce around in his mind in a clumsy dance of sorts, tripping over one another.

"I guess you can call them dreams or visions maybe, I dunno. But they- they felt real. Sometimes it would happen when I was sleeping, one time I even blacked out in the library from it." He rambles, trying to somehow coherently explain all this madness, all while his brain is going a hundred miles an hour. "First the apocalyptic one with Triad, then the knock-off Medieval Times one and finally the one where-" Landon suddenly stops, his cheeks suddenly starting to feel a tad warm at the memories. He briefly shakes his head to clear the thoughts and feelings bubbling up inside him and continued on. "uh, and the one at the Salvatore School."

Hope stood there shell shocked, utterly floored by his admission. He was describing the Malivore trials. But, how was that even possible? How could he possibly know what had happened there? Those versions of Landon were just something created by Malivore, made by using her memories of him. No matter how real those Landon's felt, it couldn't have been the real him. Right?

She took a step back, suddenly feeling confused, overwhelmed and a tad lightheaded by all this. What she fails to notice however, is the leg of the chair sticking out behind her, which causes her to trip backwards over it in the process.

"Hope!" Landon swiftly reached forward and grabbed her by the wrist to keep her from falling. The world snapped back into focus for Hope, as a single thought entered her mind.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, voice full of concern as she stared up at him wide eyed. "I'm sorry if I overwhelmed you. Seems you might be just as confused as I am about all this." He chuckled warmly as he helped her right herself back up onto her feet.

Her mouths hangs open slightly as she watched him. "Wha- what did you just say?"

She must have imagined that right? Him saying her name. It has to be her mind's feeble attempt to comfort her in this perplexing situation.

"I asked if you were okay." He repeats and Hope quickly shook her head. "No, before that. Why did you call me Hope?"

"Because that's-" Landon stops, a wave of doubt and confusion hitting him. He glanced down at the spot where her name tag should be, then remembers she was never wearing one in the first place. So where on earth had that come from? The name just tumbled so easily off his lips without even the slightest bit of hesitation. The four lettered word was like a familiar song his tongue knew all too well. But why?

"I don't-" In his attempt to make sense of it, his mind is suddenly bombarded with images that crash over him like a wave. No, not images, memories, he realizes. His eyes grew watery as it all came rushing back. Every conversation. Every touch. Every kiss. All his love for her. It leaves him breathless and yet, he feels like he can finally breath for the first time in months.

He swallows hard, taking it all in and turns his eyes back to the girl standing before him, who looks uncharacteristically fragile as she waited. The girl he can't believe he'd somehow forgotten.

His emotions proved too much and his voice broke slightly as he said her name this time.

"Hope?"

"Landon?" She choked out, half afraid, half desperate to ask that all too terrifying question. But with one look in his deep green-gray eyes, it gave her all the answer she needed, no words necessary.

He envelops her in his arms with such speed she can't help but let out a gasp as she's pulled into him. Happy tears sting at her eyes and dampen his shirt as she nestles her face into his chest, a small content laugh escaping as she feels his warmth.

A part of him didn't want to let her go, for fear of losing her all over again, but he pulls back to look into her face, fingers tracing the edge of her cheek. Those fiery blue eyes he could get lost in, those fulls lips his mouth longed to reunite with, that laugh that was nothing but music to his ears. God, he'd missed her. That's what the void had been all this time, all those months.

He blinked at his own realization. His stomach suddenly twisted inward and his hand slowed to a stop before falling to his side.

"Hope, I'm so sorry."

She stared up at him in surprise and confusion. "For what?"

Guilt washes over him as the timeline starts to form together in his mind. Hope had been subject to the horrors of that place this entire time. She'd been stuck in Malivore for _months_, trapped in a nightmarish hellscape filled with endless darkness, all because she had tried to save him. "I should've- should've remembered somehow. Should have realized what was missing. That _you_ were missing. I-"

"Landon," She's quick to interrupt, placing a comforting hand on his arm. "This isn't your fault. I was the one who chose to jump in, I knew everything that entailed when I made that decision."

But he doesn't relent.

"I should've tried to find you, get you out of there. Something! I... I let you down."

Hope immediately shook her head at such a notion. "But that's thing Landon, you did help me get out of there."

A perplexed look crossed his face at her words. "What do you mean?"

"In order to get out of Malivore, I had to pass through three different trials. Fictional worlds created by Malivore used to test me. Those dreams that you were having, they were actually the trial worlds. I don't understand how exactly, maybe it's your connection to him or something but, you were really there somehow." All that time he'd been with her and she hadn't even realized.

She exhaled an emotion filled breath and a gentle smile passed over her lips.

"You once told me that you'd always fight to find me again, and you did. If it wasn't for you, especially in the last trial, I don't know what would have happened. I was ready to give up, take the easy way out. But you wouldn't let me. You reminded me of what I still had left here to fight for. So don't you dare think you did nothing to help me."

Landon's expression is mixed, tussling with the internal struggle of the swirling guilt in the pit of his stomach and the comfort her touching words bring him.

"But-"

Hope's finger shot up to silence him, catching him by surprise as she pressed it against his lips and smirked teasingly.

"No buts, Eeyore. I did not fight my way all the way back here for you to play emo cop. Got it?"

Hope could feel Landon chuckle underneath her finger at the use of her old nicknames for him. She looked him in the eye for moment waiting for confirmation that he would drop this and when he slowly nodded, she finally removed her hand.

"Good. Now that that's settled, there's just one more thing."

Before Landon could even inquire as to what that was, he got his answer as she pressed her lips passionately into his. Though they'd kissed in the dream worlds, this one was different. Filled an urgency and a longing of a love that would not be denied.

They were so wrapped up in it that It wasn't until the sound of nearby applause caused them to pull away, as they both became wildly aware that they were still standing in the middle of the Mystic Grill. Both their faces took on a deep shade of red at the realization, awkwardly acknowledging their unwanted audience before quickly getting out of there.

Finally away from prying eyes, the duo couldn't help but but laugh at the situation they'd found themselves in.

"Probably not the way you imagined this reunion going, huh?"

Hope chuckled at him and shook her head. "Nope. But when has anything about our relationship ever gone according to plan?"

Landon laughed at the accuracy of her statement. "That's true."

He then laced his fingers with hers and stepped closer.

"I love you, Hope Mikaelson."

She smiled.

"I love you too, Landon Kirby."


End file.
